BRS' arrogance led to collapse of Kaleshwaram project: Uttam
Hyderabad: Irrigation minister N
Uttam Kumar Reddy
criticised the previous BRS govt, blaming its arrogance and corruption for the collapse of the Kaleshwaram project and the irreversible damage caused to the state's financial and irrigation systems.
"If construction was taken up at Tummidihatti, this situation would never have arisen," he said.
Speaking to the media in Huzurnagar on Saturday after a detailed review of development works in Huzurnagar and Kodad, the minister said, "Tummidihatti, designed by the Congress under the Dr BR Ambedkar Pranahita-Chevella Sujala Sravanthi project with an estimated cost of ₹38,000 crore, was deliberately set aside by the BRS govt because they did not want the Congress to get credit.
Instead, they shifted the plan to Medigadda and launched Kaleshwaram, lured by commissions.
"
He said the Kaleshwaram cost was suddenly inflated to ₹1.2 lakh crore from the original ₹38,000 crore. "Just because commissions were not coming their way, they dumped a viable project and took up an unnecessary, faulty one. And the result is in front of us—the same Kaleshwaram collapsed under their own tenure," he said, terming it a textbook case of greed and misgovernance.
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Uttam said if the Congress' original Tummidihatti plan was completed with ₹38,000 crore, the remaining ₹62,000 crore could have been used to complete several pending irrigation projects across Telangana. "Projects such as Palamuru-Rangareddy, Koilsagar, Bhima, Nettempadu, Kalwakurthy, SLBC, Dindi, Devadula, Gouravelli, and Sitarama—all could have been completed. Telangana would have become lush and agriculturally self-sufficient," he asserted.
The minister said that due to the misadventures of the BRS govt, the state now has to repay ₹16,000 crore every year, including interest. "These loans have now become a generational burden and will haunt us for the next three generations," Uttam said.
He asserted that the judicial probe headed by Justice PC Ghose is fully transparent and unbiased. "The commission is functioning independently and lawfully. Whatever action is taken will be based on the commission's findings and the people's mandate," he said, reiterating the govt's commitment to accountability.
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