Latest news with #KLIP
Time of India
7 hours ago
- Time of India
DA case: ACB gets custody of Nune Sridhar; unearthed assets worth Rs 60 crore
Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) teams raided the residence of Nune Sridhar, a senior irrigation engineer involved in the Kaleshwaram Lift Irrigation Project (KLIP), unearthing disproportionate assets worth approximately Rs 60 crore. HYDERABAD: The officials of the Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) on Friday took Nune Sridhar, executive engineer in irrigation department, into custodial remand to interrogate him in the disproportionate assets (DA) case. On June 11, the ACB officials conducted searches at 14 places in the state linked to Sridhar, who was associated with the execution of the Kaleshwaram Lift Irrigation Project (KLIP), and unearthed assets worth nearly Rs 60 crore disproportionate to his known sources of income. He was subsequently arrested and remanded in judicial custody on June 11. Subsequently, the ACB filed a petition before a local court seeking his custody, following which the court granted five days of custody to the agency. The ACB is likely to question Sridhar about how he continued to work in Choppadandi despite being transferred to Hyderabad in May 2024 by the Irrigation department secretary, Rahul Bojja.
The Hindu
2 days ago
- Politics
- The Hindu
Eatala Rajender sticks to his guns on KLIP
BJP Malkajgiri MP and former Finance Minister Eatala Rajender has stuck to his guns on the Kaleshwaram Lift Irrigation Project (KLIP) getting Cabinet clearance under the KCR regime and offered to quit politics if he was proved wrong. Addressing a press conference on Thursday, to highlight his one year work as an MP, Mr. Rajender was irked when questioned about his stance on the controversial project as told to the Justice Ghose Committee. 'I am being unnecessarily targeted. Doesn't Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy know that no project can be built without Cabinet clearance? Isn't his Cabinet meeting regularly to discuss such issues? There are three ministers in his own Cabinet who were present in the BRS government too, why can't he ask them? I can also state that former Chief Minister KCR even went to the extent of telling various departments not to take unilateral decisions but get them cleared in the Cabinet,' he maintained. The BJP leader said he was ready to provide evidence of the official papers to the media to prove his point. He was also among the first to have opposed the irrigation projects taken up to benefit Andhra Pradesh like the Pothireddypadu work during the Y.S. Rajashekara Reddy Government. Progress report Top BJP leaders, including Union Minister for Coal & Mines G. Kishan Reddy, will be attending a meeting at Imperial Gardens in Secunderabad on June 22, where he will present his one year progress card (works taken up in the constituency) with an exhibition. It will also highlight the Modi Government's initiatives in the third term. Mr. Rajender spoke about the ongoing national highway works, completion of MMTS phase two, Cherlapally terminal station and Malkajgiri station improvement, and proposed flyovers connecting Medchal and Shamirpet. He demanded that the ₹300 crore compensation to be paid to the Secunderabad Cantonment Board (SCB) by the government for the proposed flyovers should be utilised to build housing for the poor in the area itself. Senior leaders S. Malla Reddy and others were present.
The Hindu
4 days ago
- Politics
- The Hindu
Telangana Deputy CM Vikramarka launches broadside against BRS leaders over Kaleshwaram project
Deputy Chief Minister Mallu Bhatti Vikramarka has criticised BRS leaders for 'shamelessly' promoting the Kaleshwaram Lift Irrigation Project (KLIP) as a 'mega project' despite serious safety concerns raised by the National Dam Safety Authority (NDSA). The NDSA has flagged the project as extremely dangerous, citing discrepancies between its design and actual construction. Speaking at a public meeting in Bhupalpally on Tuesday, Mr. Vikramarka launched a scathing attack on the previous BRS government, alleging that ₹1 lakh crore was misappropriated in the name of KLIP. 'How can BRS leaders call this an engineering marvel,' he asked. He referred to the collapse of piers and structural flaws in the Medigadda barrage, pointing out that the NDSA had confirmed the construction did not match the approved design. In contrast, he said, irrigation projects built by successive Congress governments, such as SRSP, Sripada Yellampally, Nagarjunasagar and Srisailam, have stood the test of time without such failures. Earlier in the day, Mr. Vikramarka and IT and Industries Minister D. Sridhar Babu inaugurated a 33/11 kV sub-station and laid foundation stones for three power sub-stations worth ₹8.70 crore in the district. Continuing his attack on the previous administration, Mr. Vikramarka blamed the Kaleshwaram project fiasco on the undue interference of BRS leaders in engineering decisions. He said qualified engineers were sidelined and political interference compromised the integrity of the design and construction. Highlighting the Congress government's achievements, he pointed out that Telangana recorded a peak power demand of 17,162 MW in March 2025 — 2,000 MW more than March 2023 during the BRS regime — without a single minute of power interruption. He called it a significant milestone in the State's power sector performance. Mr. Vikramarka also said the government had released ₹16,000 crore to power utilities under the 24-hour free power scheme for farmers. In addition, free power is being supplied to 50,000 families (up to 200 units) and all government institutions. Later, at a review meeting with senior officials of the Singareni Collieries Company Limited (SCCL) in Bhupalpally, the Deputy Chief Minister urged the management to diversify into other mining sectors beyond coal to adapt to evolving market trends. He also suggested appointing consultants to assess global demand and availability of critical minerals. He said strengthening the SCCL, a public sector enterprise with over 45,000 employees, is a key goal of the State government to ensure livelihood opportunities for future generations. He emphasised that the entire region spanning the vast coal belt must benefit in terms of welfare and development.
The Hindu
6 days ago
- Politics
- The Hindu
BJP wants KCR to own up responsibility for Kaleshswaram project imbroglio
Telangana BJP vice-president and ex-MLA N.V.S.S. Prabhakar wanted former Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao to own moral responsibility for the irregularities in the Kaleshwaram Lift Irrigation Project (KLIP) as head of the government then, instead of putting the blame on his Cabinet and engineers. Addressing a press conference here on Saturday, Mr. Prabhakar accused KCR of trying to wash off his hands by shifting responsibility on the engineers when he had appeared before the P.C. Ghosh Commission a few days ago. Mr. Prabhakar charged KCR with ignoring the warnings of CAG, which had remarked that undue favour was given to contractors and instead of rectifying and correcting the mistakes in the project, he (KCR) went ahead with the works causing a huge loss to the exchequer. Before the BRS had come to power, the then Congress Government had commenced project work at Tummadihatti but KCR has changed the location, increased project estimation by double and triple without calling tenders for Medigadda barrage works. 'Who is responsible for shrinkage of columns in the barrage, non-functioning of pump motors, breaches in canals and other irregularities which had surfaced? KCR is liable to answer all these,' he said. The former MLA also claimed that the change of site to Medigadda is purely a political decision and was later ratified in the Cabinet. There should be no question of sparing anyone involved in the irregularities, and the party would wait for the final report of the Commission, he added. Local body polls Mr. Prabhakar and former MP B. Narasaiah Goud (in a separate press conference) demanded the Congress Government to immediately hold the local body elections by publishing the BC census data and implementing 42% quota to BCs. The government has been sitting on the proposal for the last 18 months, the tenures of most of the elected bodies completed and people of State are waiting to teach a lesson for the hollow promises made to them, they said. Dr. Goud mentioned that 12,769 sarpanches posts have been lying vacant since Jan.31, 2024, 5,717 MPTC since May 2024, 538 ZPTC, MPPs, ZP chairpersons and others for the last one year. Similarly, 128 out of 130 municipalities six months had completed their tenures. Due to the delay in local body polls, about ₹1,514 crore due from the Finance Commission and another ₹800 crore pending dues from the previous commission have been held up, he claimed.
Hans India
6 days ago
- Politics
- Hans India
CPI demands scrapping of KLIP
Warangal: CPI State Secretary Kunamneni Sambasiva Rao demanded that the government should shelve the Kaleshwaram Lift Irrigation Project (KLIP) and save the people's money for its operational expenditure. Addressing a press conference in Hanumakonda on Saturday, he stated that BRS leaders previously claimed that the KLIP was the brainchild of former Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao. 'KCR himself owned the designing of the KLIP, but he changed his tack to escape responsibility. Further, KCR accuses engineers of designing the project,' Kunamneni said. 'The construction of KLIP didn't benefit the farmers. Farmers still depended on water from the Yellampally project,' he said, adding that the CPI had demanded that the government then construct the project at Tummidihetti at a height of 140 m, which would have catered to the irrigation needs of all the districts. He found fault with the Centre for not handing over the body of top Maoist leader Nambala Keshava Rao, who was killed in an encounter. CPI State Assistant Secretary Takkalapally Srinivas Rao, Hanumakonda district secretary Karre Bikshapathi, senior leaders Nedunuri Jyothy, Siraboina Karnakar, Adari Srinivas, Manda Sadalaxmi, Thota Bikshapathi and Maddela Yellesh were among others present.
