Revanth not lifting water from Medigadda for political gain: Harish Rao

Former Minister T Harish Rao accused the Congress government of not operating KLIP pumps at Medigadda despite heavy Godavari inflows. He alleged political motives behind halting water lifting and warned of serious impact on farmers already suffering due to deficit rainfall

Siddipet: Former Minister T Harish Rao said the Congress government was not operating the Kaleshwaram Lift Irrigation Project (KLIP) pumps at Medigadda barrage despite 80 TMCft of water going waste down the barrage every day.

Addressing the gathering after distributing Rs 38.54 lakh worth CMRF cheques to 167 beneficiaries of his constituency at his camp office on Saturday, Rao said Godavari was receiving eight lakh cusecs of inflows from upstream now. However, he said that the Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy made no effort to lift the water into reservoirs from Medigadda.

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Accusing Revanth Reddy of resorting to false propaganda on KLIS for political gain, Rao questioned how lorries and other vehicular traffic were crossing Medigadda barrage if it had really collapsed as said by the Congress. The former minister asked the Congress party and Revanth Reddy to remember that Ranganayaka Sagar, Kondapochamma Sagar and Mallanna Sagar, which remained intact, were also part of KLIS.

While the farmers were suffering due to deficit rainfall this year, Rao said the lifting of the water from KLIS will provide a major relief to farmers. He said Ranganayaka Sagar will be filled to the brim within a week if the government started operating pumps. He dared Revanth Reddy to hold an assembly session to debate on KLIS to prove that the Chief Minister was speaking truth on KLIS.

Rao accused the Congress government of delaying operation of Kalwakurthy Lift Irrigation pumps though Krishna river started getting water well over a month ago. The former minister said that Revanth Reddy ordered for the lifting of water after the BRS raised the issue repeatedly. Asking Revanth Reddy to file cases against former Chief Minister K Chandrashekhar Rao and on him if he wanted to gain politically, Rao suggested Revanth Reddy not to do injustice to farmers by stopping the lifting of water from Medigadda. He said that Medigadda can be restored to normalcy by taking up repairing works on two piers, which were sunk in.

The former minister elaborated how the Congress government was acting against the interests of the farming fraternity by denying Rythu Bharosa, loan waiver and other benefits. He said that the administration went haywire in villages due to lack of funds.