Telangana News | Ministerial Delegation Criticizes Kaleshwaram Project

Hyderabad: A delegation of five Telangana Ministers, comprising Uttam Kumar Reddy (Irrigation), Sridhar Babu (IT), Ponnam Prabhakar (Transport), Ponguleti Srinivas Reddy (Revenue), and Komati Reddy Venkata Reddy (R & B), inspected the Medigadda barrage as part of the Kaleshwaram project on Friday.

The Ministers, while speaking to newsmen on the occasion, expressed their suspicions that the concerns raised since the project’s inception had been proven true. They attributed the project to the brainchild of the previous government.

Uttam Kumar Reddy shared his disappointment regarding the Medigadda striking incident and announced intentions to bestow national status upon the Palamuru-Ranga Reddy project.

He criticized the former Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao (KCR) for a lack of response after the incident and emphasized the substantial increase in project costs from Rs 80 crores to one and a half lakh crores. Reddy also declared plans for a legal investigation into the matter.

Komati Reddy Venkata Reddy asserted that the project could have saved Rs 40,000 crore if it had been located near Tummadi Hetti. He raised concerns about the decision to undertake the project in its current location and questioned KCR’s appointment as the Engineer-in-Chief.

Reddy criticized the expenditure on assembled motors and alleged a political conspiracy by KCR, citing the Kondapochamma Sagar project as another failed endeavour.

Ponguleti Srinivasa Reddy recounted efforts by the then Congress CM Rajasekhara Reddy to construct the project near Tummadi Hetti at a 152-meter level.

He attributed the collapse of Kaleswaram to a design flaw, insisting that precautions could have averted the current situation. Reddy criticized the project’s quality, its construction on debt, and the negligence of authorities leading to pump failures. He questioned accountability for the wastage of hundreds of crores of public money.

Ponnam Prabhakar alleged that the Kaleshwaram project originated as a brainchild of the previous government, expressing frustration with its seemingly insurmountable issues.

He highlighted rumours of planted bombs in the project and questioned the massive expenditure without commensurate results. Prabhakar called for measures to benefit farmers in the future.

MLA Vivek joined the criticism, suggesting that the situation could have been avoided if the project had been built near Tummadi Hetti. He criticized the defective construction of the Kaleshwaram project and urged the resolution of the backwater problem, emphasizing the lack of compensation for farmers affected by the backwater.