Mahabubnagar: Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy blasted the previous BRS government for not completing the prestigious Palamuru Rangareddy lift scheme project and swindled public money through commission by taking up the works of pumpset and lifts only during the 10 year rule in the state.
He declared that the People’s Government would complete the project in two years and also appealed to the people to support the government to expedite land acquisition for the pending projects in the erstwhile Mahabubnagar district.
Addressing the media at Karivena Reservoir in Kothur village of Bhootpur mandal in Mahbubnagar district on Friday, the Chief Minister said the KCR government has spent a whopping Rs 1.81 lakh crore on irrigation project works. Of which, Rs one lakh crore was spent solely on the Kaleshwaram project and the crucial Palamuru-Rangareddy Lift Irrigation Scheme was completely neglected, he pointed out.
Stating that the palamuru project has the potential to supply 90 TMC of water, Revanth Reddy said that Rs 27,000 crore were only spent on the Palamuru irrigation scheme by the BRS government . A major chunk of the funds were spent on pumps and lifts to rake in commissions. The previous government abandoned the project midway without providing water to even a single acre, the Chief Minister charged.
“ We hoped that the Palamuru projects would be completed once the Telangana state was formed. Had the Palamuru-Rangareddy project been completed alongside the Jurala, Bhima, Nettempadu, Koilsagar, Kalwakurthy, and other projects, it would have been possible to provide irrigation water to an ayacut of 26 lakh acres in the Mahabubnagar district”, the Chief Minister a said.
He alleged that the previous BRS government had also neglected land acquisition and the former chief minister focused only on clearing contractor bills worth thousands of crores.
Further, Revanth Reddy said the debt KCR government incurred for irrigation projects over ten years was t ₹84,503 crore. The Congress government cleared Rs 52,120 crore in just 30 months. We paid only ₹22,000 crore to contractors during those 30 months and spent ₹8,000 crore on the Palamuru project, he said.
“Land acquisition for about 4,000 acres related to the projects is still pending”, the Chief Minister remarked
He ridiculed the BRS leaders’ claim that 90 per cent of the Palamuru project workers were completed in their rule. How can 90 percent of the work be finished without even 50 percent of the estimated budget being spent?” the Chief Minister wondered if he failed to understand the ‘science’ or ‘math’ knowledge of the BRS leaders.” I have not read 80,000 books like KCR “.
“Despite facing financial challenges, we are working with composure and determination, the BRS leaders have looted everything and are now trying to paint us as the guilty ones. My visit is aimed at completing the Palamuru district projects on a war footing. History will not forgive us if we fail to complete the project, ” Revanth Reddy said.
He appealed to the district BRS leaders to remain silent for the next two years and it would be a great help. The Chief Minister also mentioned how senior leader Nagam Janardhan Reddy fought against this for years.
Revanth Reddy also took a dig at the BRS leader’s plan to embark on Padayatra and suggested the leader continue the yatra to Kashi to get rid of their sins committed during the 10 year BRS rule. The BRS leader lost consciousness and behaved without even the slightest realisation that the public holds them in contempt, he said.
