Hyderabad: Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy on Friday expressed confidence that the Congress government will secure a No Objection Certificate (NOC) for 90 tmcft of Krishna river water from Andhra Pradesh through negotiations, and will also complete the Palamuru-Rangareddy Lift Irrigation Scheme (PRLIS) within two years.
The state government will also negotiate with Maharashtra for the construction of a barrage at Tummidihatti on the Godavari river to supply 100 tmcft of water to Adilabad, Nizamabad, Karimnagar, and Medak districts. The Chief Minister made these remarks while addressing a media conference and later at a public meeting after concluding his two-day inspection tour of all irrigation projects in the combined Mahbubnagar district. He appealed to the public to support the government in expediting land acquisition for pending projects.
“The BRS is trying to sling mud on me and the Congress government to stop us from holding talks with the Andhra Pradesh government. They do not want a solution to the Krishna river water issue. But I will hold talks with Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra, and Karnataka and ensure every drop of Telangana’s rightful share of Godavari and Krishna river waters is achieved,” he said.
Stating that the Maharashtra Chief Minister is playing hide and seek and not giving time for CM-level talks, Revanth said that BJP MPs from Telangana, including Union Minister Kishan Reddy, should ensure that Fadnavis comes for talks. He noted that the people of Mahbubnagar district had elected KCR as an MP in 2009 with the hope that he would solve their water problems after the formation of Telangana. The previous government spent Rs 27,000 crore on PRLIS and abandoned the project without providing water to even a single acre. “Had the PRLIS been completed along with other projects, 26 lakh acres could have been irrigated in the combined Mahbubnagar district,” the Chief Minister said.
Charging KCR with neglecting land acquisition and focusing on commissions, Revanth said that the KCR government had paid Rs 84,503 crore, including EMIs and interest, for loans borrowed and spent on irrigation projects in the state over 10 years. Due to the debt left behind by the BRS government, the incumbent Congress government had to pay Rs 52,120 crore in EMIs and interest on loans taken for irrigation projects in the last 30 months. The Congress government has paid Rs 22,000 crore to contractors for all irrigation projects in 30 months, of which Rs 8,000 crore was spent in Mahbubnagar district alone. About 4,000 acres of land is yet to be acquired for projects in the district.
He ridiculed the BRS’s claim that 90 percent of the PRLIS project works were completed during its tenure. “How can 90 percent of works be completed when they estimated Rs 55,000 crore to complete PRLIS and spent only Rs 27,000 crore, which is less than 48 percent of the total project cost?” he asked.
He appealed to BRS leaders not to create obstacles and to allow the government to complete the projects. The government will set targets for completing specific components of all irrigation projects in Mahbubnagar district every six months, and funds will be released through green channels, said CM Revanth.
