Not Kaleshwaram Commission, but Congress Commission: MLC Kavitha stages protest opposing notices to KCR

BRS MLC K. Kavitha accused the Congress of politicising the Kaleshwaram inquiry to target KCR and warned of mass protests. She questioned the silence on Andhra’s river projects and criticised the BJP for failing Telangana on irrigation concerns.

Hyderabad: Telangana Jagruthi president and BRS MLC K Kavitha declared that the Congress government constituted Justice PC Ghose Commission on Kaleshwaram project only to politically target former Chief Minister K Chandrashekhar Rao and defame the previous BRS government. She led a protest by Telangana Jagruthi opposing the notices issued by the Commission to Chandrashekhar Rao.

“It is not Kaleshwaram Commission, but a Congress Commission as the inquiry is not about accountability, but about political defamation. What wrong did KCR do? If you issue notices to him, it is like issuing notices to the entire populace of Telangana,” she said.

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Addressing the gathering amid chants of “Jai Telangana” and “Jai KCR” at Dharna Chowk, Kavitha reminded that the Kaleshwaram Lift Irrigation Project (KLIP) as a transformative effort that brought water to millions of acres across the State. She said Kaleshwaram was not just three barrages, as it comprises 21 pump houses, 15 reservoirs, 200 km of tunnels, and 1,500 km of canal.

“It was KCR’s vision that made it possible to lift water from 90 metres to 600 metres height, defying gravity, to provide 40 TMC to Hyderabad and 16 TMC to industries, besides irrigating nearly 40 lakh acres,” she added.

The Telangana Jagruthi president questioned why the Congress government has not summoned Krishna Reddy of Megha Engineering and Infrastructure Limited (MEIL), which constructed 15 pump houses in the project. She pointed out that the then Congress government gave majority of the irrigation project works to MEIL under Jala Yagnam scheme in erstwhile Andhra Pradesh. She criticised the Revanth Reddy government for neglecting repairs at Medigadda barrage and depriving water to farmers, while blaming others.

The BRS MLC questioned Revanth Reddy’s silence on Andhra Pradesh’s Banakacherla project and Godavari-Penna Rivers inter-linking. “When Telangana’s water is being diverted, why is there no protest from the Chief Minister? Why did not he raise the issue with the Centre to stop it?” she asked.

Kavitha also called out BJP silence, urging that at least MP Eatela Rajender who has roots in Telangana statehood movement, to raise his voice against Andhra Pradesh’s illegal projects and to lobby for national status for the Telangana irrigation projects. “Despite having 8 MPs and 8 MLAs, Telangana gets nothing from the BJP-led Centre,” she said.

She warned that if the Congress government creates hurdles to prevent them from staging dharnas in Hyderabad, they will spread to every street and district. “Telangana Jagruthi will not stop until we secure our rightful 1,000 TMC from Godavari River,” she declared. She condemned the police detaining several Telangana Jagruthi members from Mancherial and Ramagundam, to prevent them from participating in the dharna.