Kaleshwaram: BRS hits back at Congress campaign with facts

The BRS reached Ground Zero at Medigadda Barrage and countered every allegation with facts and figures, demanding the State government to take up rectification measures instead of continuing the political blame game

Medigadda: In a point by point rebuttal to the charges being levelled by the Congress on the Kaleshwaram Lift Irrigation Project, the Bharat Rashtra Samithi on Friday reached Ground Zero at Medigadda Barrage and countered every allegation with facts and figures, demanding the State government to take up rectification measures instead of continuing the political blame game.

BRS working president KT Rama Rao, who led a massive delegation of BRS leaders including MPs, MLAs and former Ministers, said the visit was per directions of BRS president K Chandrashekhar Rao after the Nalgonda public meeting, to bring forth the ground reality and place it before the people to expose the false campaign of the Congress government.

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“This is just the beginning and the first step. We will visit all components of the Kaleshwaram project. It is still the world’s largest lift Irrigation project and just because three pillars sunk at Medigadda Barrage, the Congress government is indulging in a misinformation campaign that the entire Kaleshwaram project was futile and that Rs.1 lakh crore of investment has been wasted,” he said.

“If the standing crops have to be saved, water has to be supplied by taking up repair works immediately. But the State government is deliberately delaying the repair works due to political grudges,” Rama Rao told the media at Medigadda.

Former Irrigation Minister T Harish Rao slammed the Congress government for failing to protect the interests of farmers. An all-party meeting should be conducted to discuss the rectification measures for Medigadda. The Congress government should prove its commitment to farmers welfare by initiating the rectification steps, he said.

Welcoming Irrigation Minister N Uttam Kumar Reddy’s statements to take up repair works soon after the NDSA report and recommendations, the former Irrigation Minister said in a way, this was a victory of the BRS.

Coming down heavily on the Congress false campaign on the BRS government’s efforts to construct the Medigadda barrage as against at Tummadihati, he said the decision was taken following the Central Water Commission’s instructions in 2015. They specifically directed the BRS government to explore other locations citing non-availability of water at Tummadihati, he said.

The Congress government’s charges that water was provided only to 97,000 acres was false. In fact, water was provided to 20 lakh acres, besides stabilization of ayacut, facilitating increase in agriculture production, groundwater recharge and fisheries production, he said.

On the sinking of pillars at Medigadda, he said in the past, the Kadem project was washed away twice. Similarly, Taliperu vagu and Palem vagu, which was constructed under Jala Yagnam by the then Congress government were washed away.

Under Jala Yagnam, the then Congress government had planned 33 projects but not one project was completed. The CAG too had pointed out irregularities to the tune of Rs.52,000 crore in Jala Yagnam, he said.

“Politics should not be the top priority for the State government. The Congress government can book any number of cases on us and we will bear but if the interests of farmers are compromised, we will not tolerate it,” Harish Rao said.

Mincing no words in slamming the BJP for its opportunistic politics, he said in Gujarat, the Morbi bridge collapsed and 160 people were killed but no report was submitted. At Polavaram, which was being executed by Central Water Commission, the cofferdam was washed away five years ago and still there was no report, he said.

“Polavaram was launched with an estimate of Rs.10,000 crore. So far, Rs.55,000 crore has been spent and another Rs.1 lakh crore is estimated to be needed,” Harish Rao pointed out.