Revanth stands firm on Tummidi Hatti; to ‘reclaim’ Godavari water from Medak to Rangareddy

CM Revanth Reddy reaffirmed plans to construct the Tummidi Hatti project and divert 20 TMC ft of Godavari water to Hyderabad. He defended the initiative against Opposition criticism and revealed plans for Musi River rejuvenation and infrastructure development in Budvel

Hyderabad: Reiterating that the Congress government would go ahead with the Tummidi Hatti project at any cost, Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy said on Monday that water from River Godavari, which was diverted to Medak in the past, would be supplied to Chevella, Vikarabad, Tandur, Parigi and parts of Kodangal.

The Chief Minister said he would visit Maharashtra shortly and meet Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis. The Telangana government had sought consent for constructing the Tummidi Hatti project at a height of 152 metres and the Maharashtra government had accepted a height of 148 metres, he said.

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“The Tummidi Hatti project will be constructed at 149 metres or 150 metres and water will be provided to 1.5 lakh acres in Adilabad apart from addressing the drinking water requirements of Rangareddy,” Revanth Reddy claimed after laying the foundation for diversion of 20 tmcft of River Godavari water to Osman Sagar and Himayat Sagar at a cost of Rs 7,360 crore. He countered the Opposition’s claims that the Congress government was diverting River Godavari water into River Musi using the Kaleshwaram project.

“Medigadda, Annaram and Sundilla barrages were constructed as part of Kaleshwaram but they collapsed. Godavari water is being diverted to Hyderabad through the Yellampally project,” he claimed, also trying to counter the Opposition’s claim that water was being diverted through Mallanna Sagar, by claiming that the Mallanna Sagar project was launched in 2008-09 by former Chief Minister late YS Rajasekhara Reddy.

He claimed that YSR had launched the Pranahita Chevella project at Tummidi Hatti with plans to provide water to Rangareddy, but the BRS government stalled these works. Last year, when the State government wanted to launch River Godavari projects, a few vested interests hatched conspiracies. Of the 20 tmcft, 15 tmcft would be used to meet drinking water requirements of Hyderabad and five tmcft would be utilised for River Musi Rejuvenation project and to fix water pollution issue in the river, he maintained.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi had constructed the Sabarmati project and Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath had constructed the Ganga project. Delhi Chief Minister Rekha Gupta was planning a Yamuna project as well, he said, asking why Telangana should not take up the River Musi Rejuvenation project.

Announcing plans to develop Budvel into a hub for different sectors, he said there were also plans to construct a Gateway of Hyderabad.