BRS charges Congress government with conspiracy to abandon Kaleshwaram project

Says the ruling party deliberately delaying repairs in its attempt to discredit the good works done by former Chief Minister K Chandrashekhar Rao

Warangal: The Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) on Monday charged the Revanth Reddy government with conspiracy to delay repairs to the Kaleshwaram Lift Irrigation Scheme (KLIS), and eventually, abandon the project under the guise of structural failures. The party leaders suspected that the Congress government was undermining the landmark irrigation project for political gain and vowed to fight against a well-orchestrated campaign to discredit the previous BRS government.

The party leaders called the unnecessary delay a politically motivated move, to blame the previous BRS government and waste crores of rupees. Former MLA Putta Madhu organised a round table meeting to discuss on ‘Congress Conspiracies on Kaleshwaram Project and Facts’ at Kaleshwaram in Jayashankar Bhupalpally district on Monday. The meeting was attended by Legislative Council Opposition leader S Madhusudana Chari, former Minister Koppula Eshwar, irrigation expert V Prakash and several former MLAs.

Addressing the gathering, Madhusudana Chari said the Congress regime had deliberately stalled all repair works on the Kaleshwaram project. He said nearly one-and-a-half years since the National Dam Safety Authority (NDSA) submitted its preliminary report and suggested for precautionary measures to prevent further damage to the Medigadda barrage, the Congress government did not take any concrete action.

He said the Revanth Reddy government was deliberately delaying repairs in its attempt to discredit the good works done by former Chief Minister K Chandrashekhar Rao, and promoting interests beneficial to Andhra Pradesh. “This is nothing but a political conspiracy. The Congress government is blaming the project to hide its own administrative failures,” he said, warning that Telangana might have to launch another movement for water, if the apathy continued.

Irrigation expert V Prakash raised serious doubts over the timing and nature of the Medigadda barrage damage. “How did Congress leaders get wind of the damage before anyone else? Why did the collapse occur just before the elections?” he asked, pointing out that both the Annaram and Sundilla barrages were structurally sound, but deliberately left unused.

He doubted whether the Congress government in Telangana was in a pathetic condition that it was unable to repair a single block comprising three piers, to resume operations at Medigadda barrage. He reminded that BRS chief K Chandrashekhar Rao spent nearly 50 per cent of the budget in decade-long BRS regime, for agriculture and farmers’ welfare.