Palamuru Congress leaders seek halt to Dindi water diversion, flag PRLI delays

Congress leaders from the erstwhile Palamuru region have urged the government to stop diverting PRLI water towards the Dindi project, warning of adverse effects on irrigation. Irrigation Minister N. Uttam Kumar Reddy promised discussions with officials to address their concerns.

Hyderabad: Congress MLAs from erstwhile Palamuru region are also now raising objections over the Dindi project and expressing concern over the delay in execution of Palamuru Rangareddy Lift Irrigation (PRLI) scheme.

A team of Congress MLAs, elected public representatives and Nagarkurnool MP Mallu Ravi met Irrigation Minister N Uttam Kumar Reddy here on Thursday. Legislative Council Chairman G Sukhender Reddy, former Minister K Jana Reddy and other leaders from erstwhile Nalgonda are believed to have participated in the meeting.

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This comes after pressure mounting from different sections over the delay in execution of PRLI scheme. Cutting across party lines, political leaders, retired employees, intellectuals and others have been staging protest over the Congress government’s negligence towards PRLI.

They have been expressing concern over the Dindi project and its impact on irrigation and drinking water supply to erstwhile Palamuru region.

Accordingly, led by Excise Minister Jupally Krishna Rao, a team of Congress MLAs and leaders, met the Irrigation Minister. During the meeting, which lasted for over an hour, the Congress MLAs from Palamuru wanted the government to stop water diversion from PRLI towards Nalgonda.

They explained to the Irrigation Minister over the concerns being raised by farmers, NGOs, and other organisations over Dindi project.

“The works to draw water from Yedula reservoir under PRLI should be stopped and water should be drawn from other sources,” the Palamuru Congress leaders are learnt to have demanded with the Irrigation Minister.

They specifically explained that if water was diverted from Yedula reservoir to Dindi, the ayacut under erstwhile Palamuru would be adversely affected. However, they stressed that they were not against Dindi project.

Responding to the objections and concerns raised by Palamuru MLAs, Uttam Kumar reportedly said a meeting would be conducted with officials over the issue shortly. “We will take a decision, which will be acceptable to all sections,” he assured.

Of late, the Congress government is drawing severe criticism over the sluggish pace of PRLI works. Interestingly, the Dindi project was being taken up at a brisk pace.
People are raising objections over the Congress government’s priorities, especially with Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy hailing from Palamuru region.