Telangana: Vinod Kumar asks govt to take up Medigadda repair works

The BRS leader said it would be possible to store water in the dam and supply it to agricultural fields in the next season if the works were completed by June or July

KARIMNAGAR: Senior BRS leader and former MP B Vinod Kumar demanded the State government to take up repair works on the Medigadda barrage.

Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy should take the initiative and start the work immediately by consulting State Dam Safety officials and the Engineer-In-Chief (Irrigation), he said, pointing out that it would be possible to store water in the dam and supply it to agricultural fields in the next season if the works were completed by June or July.

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Stating that the government should first take steps to protect standing crops, Vinod Kumar said the government should draw Medigadda backwaters by operating Kaleshwaram motors and fill water in Annaram, Sundilla and Yellampalli projects. Later, water should be supplied to agricultural fields to protect standing crops.

In a letter to the Chief Minister, the BRS leader said farmers were facing trouble in getting water to their standing crops only because of the foolish decisions of Revanth Reddy. If the BRS was in power, the repair works of Medigdda would have been completed and water would be supplied to farmers. Despite heavy floods in the last rainy season and the recent earthquake, the Medigadda barrage had not budged, he said.

The State government was neglecting the barrage on the pretext of the National Dam Safety Authority’s report. It was clearly mentioned in the NDSA Act that the owner (the State government) should take a decision on irrigation projects. Besides NDSA, there was a dam safety authority in the State too. The State government should take a decision by consulting them. Why are Revanth Reddy and the Centre neglecting the barrage, he asked.

Reacting sharply to the statement that the Medigadda report was submitted to the Central Water Commission, Vinod Kumar questioned the CWC’s voice in the issue when the State was the owner of the barrage. Revanth Reddy was conspiring to malign BRS president and former Chief Minister K Chandrashekhar Rao by holding him responsible for the damage. However, his attempts would be rejected by the people of Telangana, he added.