Scaling down Palamuru project will spell disaster: Niranjan Reddy

BRS leader S. Niranjan Reddy alleged that the Congress government’s decision to scale down water allocation for the Palamuru irrigation project would severely impact southern Telangana, accusing it of sabotaging a project cleared under the previous BRS regime.

Hyderabad: Voicing concern over the neglect of the Palamuru Irrigation projects by the Congress government, BRS leader and former Minister S. Niranjan Reddy said that the ill-conceived moves of the Chief Minister, A.Revanth Reddy would spell disaster for the southern districts of Telangana.

Addressing a news conference along with former MLAs Ala Venkateshwar Reddy, Beeram Harshavardhan Reddy, and former ZP chairperson Allipuram Venkateshwar Reddy, he claimed that the Palamuru Rangareddy Lift Irrigation project, vital for irrigating over 12.3 lakh acres was sabotaged despite clearances obtained in 2023. Reddy highlighted that under BRS rule led by K. Chandrashekhar Rao, obstacles were overcome to construct reservoirs and pump houses while 27,000 acres of land was acquired.

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He alleged that the rejection of the Project DPR by the Centre and the state government’s decision to scale down the required water allocations for the sake of pending clearances of the project from 90 TMc to 45 TMC would be suicidal. Such a decision would amount to betraying the people of the Palamuru region.

The BRS leaders highlighted that during the BRS regime under K. Chandrashekar Rao considerable progress was made on irrigation projects. They cited the construction of a check dam on the Dundubhi River as an example of targeted development. Under BRS, they claimed, check dams transformed the region into a green belt. In contrast, they criticized

Congress for irresponsibly suggesting the project be built at Jurala, where only 6.5 TMC of water is available, with floods lasting just 25-30 days annually.