Harish Rao slams congress govt for stalling Kaleshwaram Project, alleges neglect of farmers’ needs

While addressing farmers after releasing water into a canal at Chowdaram in Chinnakodur mandal on Sunday, Harish Rao stated that the government had not acquired even a single acre of land for constructing new canals and sub-canals under various reservoirs of the Kaleshwaram Lift Irrigation Project (KLIP).

Siddipet: Former Minister T Harish Rao said that the Congress Party government in the State kept all the works under Kaleshwaram LIft Irrigation Project (KLIP) pending despite their repeated appeals from people and BRS Party. Speaking to farmers after releasing water into a canal at Chowdaram in Chinnakodur mandal on Sunday, Harish Rao said that the government did not acquire single acre of land for digging new canals and sub-canals under different reservoirs of KLIP.

Though the Godavari water was reaching the reservoirs built by the BRS government, Rao said that it is not reaching the tail end agriculture fields due to lack of canals. He said that he even spoke to Irrigation Minister N Uttam Kumar Reddy on Saturday in this regard and also raised the issue in the assembly through cut motion, but to no avail. The former minister said that the farmers were spending from their packet to dig canals and acquire small extent of the lands to take the water to their villages and lakes for the larger benefit as the government totally turned ignorant to the issues.

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He said that K Chandrahekhar Rao-led government built reservoirs, pump houses, sub-stations, main canals and distributory canals, but the government was not showing any interest to supply the water to fields by digging small link canals. Rao said that he has urged Uttam Kumar Reddy to release at least Rs 15 to Rs 20 crore for canal works under Ranganayaka Sagar, but he received no positive response from him so far. The former minister demanded the government to take up repairing work on Medigadda barrage to pump the water regularly into reservoirs for the benefit of farming fraternity.

Terming KLIP as a gift for north Telangana, Rao said that it could provide irrigation water to 52,000 acres in Siddipet constituency. He said that projects such as Peddavagu, Suniksala, Vattem and SLBC tunnels collapsed during Congress rule. The former asked the Congress government to stay away from false propaganda for political gain and pump in water and supply them to fields.