Harish Rao slams Uttam for derogatory remarks against KCR

Senior BRS leader T Harish Rao said Uttam Kumar Reddy was trying to outdo Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy in using abusive and inappropriate language.

Hyderabad: Responding to the derogatory remarks made by Irrigation Minister N Uttam Kumar Reddy against BRS President K Chandrashekhar Rao, senior BRS leader T Harish Rao said Uttam Kumar Reddy was trying to outdo Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy in using abusive and inappropriate language.

Harish Rao questioned Uttam Kumar Reddy’s integrity, reminding him of being part of the Congress government that introduced the EPC contract method in the Jalayagnam projects for inflating project costs, and misappropriating public funds. He reminded Uttam Kumar Reddy of the significant cost escalation in the Pranahita Chevella project, which increased from Rs 17,000 crore to Rs 40,000 crore without any substantial work being done.

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Harish Rao also highlighted the Congress government’s mismanagement, including dividing project works into multiple packages without any attempt to resolve issues with Maharashtra, the riparian state before starting work on the project. Works were started from the tail end to collect advances. He pointed out that the Detailed Project Report (DPR) for the Pranahita Chevella was submitted to the Central government in 2010 with an inflated cost of Rs 40,300 crore.

Giving a detailed rebuttal to Uttam Kumar Reddy, Harish Rao highlighted the financial mismanagement during the Congress government’s tenure from 2008-09 to 2012, particularly in the Pranahita Chevella project. He provided specific figures, noting that the government had released Rs 651.28 crores as mobilization advance payments, Rs 829 .51 crores as payments for Survey and Investigation, Rs 151.93 crores as payments for works, Rs 16.93 crores for land acquisition and Rs 14.52 crores towards other expenses. He emphasized that the total expenditure for project works and land acquisition over four years amounted to Rs 168.86 crores, while mobilization payments up to June 2014 totalled ₹1,426.60 crores.

Hailing the leadership of Chandrashekhar Rao, he credited him with transforming Telangana into a leading State in the country. He cited the union Agriculture Ministry’s recent report, which highlighted Telangana’s top position in food crop production growth, with a rate of 16.42 percent between 2014-15 and 2023-24. The area under cultivation increased from 1.29 crore acres in 2014-15 to 2.21 crore acres by 2022-23. He attributed this success to the completion of several key irrigation projects under the BRS regime, including the Kaleshwaram project, which has significantly boosted the State’s agricultural sector. Harish Rao listed other completed projects such as Kalvakurthi, Nettempadu, Bhima, Koil Sagar and many more, which have contributed to the dramatic increase in irrigation for both crops in the state.

Harish Rao also challenged Uttam Kumar Reddy’s claims about the Devadula project, questioning whether the project could have lifted 60 TMC of water for 300 days without the construction of the Sammakka Sagar barrage.