Farmers confident of growing two crops despite deficient rainfall, says Harish Rao

Talking about the temple development, the Minister asked the temple administration to make it a plastic-free temple by using other environment-friendly materials.

Siddipet: Finance Minister T Harish Rao said the people of Siddipet district were confident that the Kaleshwaram Lift Irrigation Scheme (KLIS) would save them even though the district did not receive sufficient rainfall during the first month of the Southwest monsoon.

Addressing the gathering after laying the foundation for a modern queue complex at the Komuravelly Sri Mallikarjuna Swamy Temple on Wednesday, the Minister said irrigation tanks were brimming with water since the area was getting water from the Devadula Lift Irrigation project, which would eventually get water from KLIS.

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Since there was enough groundwater, farmers were taking up transplantation of paddy with the hope of getting water from KLIS. He said the people were also getting Rythu Bandhu as well as round the clock power supply. Stating that the farmers of Siddipet were confident of getting two crops even if there was not enough rainfall this year, Rao said Chief Minister K Chandrashekhar Rao with the blessings of Mallikarjuna Swamy had made it possible by getting Godavari water.

Talking about the temple development, the Minister asked the temple administration to make it a plastic-free temple by using other environment-friendly materials. Saying that the temple was undergoing a transformation post-Telangana formation, Rao said the revenue of the temple increased to Rs 18 crore per annum from Rs 4 crore. He further said that the modern queue complex, which would be built with an outlay of Rs 12 crore, would ease out the movement of the devotees while having Darashan of the presiding deity.

The State government was also building 100 choultries to provide the best accommodation to the devotees coming from various parts of the State. He said that several Ministers including Talasani Srinivas Yadav, V Srinivas Goud and other leaders were coming forward to build choultries at their own expense.