HYDERABAD: “Will you stop the construction of Polavaram as Odisha lodged a complaint with the Centre against the project?” Telangana irrigation minister T Harish Rao has asked Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu.Irked by the recent letter written by the AP government to the central government opposing the construction of Kaleshwaram Lift Irrigation Scheme (KLIS), Harish Rao has accused Naidu of creating hurdles in the construction of irrigation projects in Telangana.
Addressing a public meeting after laying the foundation stone of Package-2 works of Sripada Yellampalli canal network at Kalikota village in Kathalapur mandal in Jagitial district on Friday, the minister said right from the beginning the Congress and the TDP had been trying to stall irrigation projects in Telangana.
“In the past the Congress and the TDP had joined hands to stop the formation of Telangana state. Now, the Congress is filing cases against the irrigation projects in Telangana and the TDP is lodging complaints with the central government. AP wrote eight letters to the Centre against the construction of Kaleshwaram. “The Odisha government too lodged a complaint with the Centre against the Polavaram project. Naidu, will you stop constructing the Polavaram project?” he asked.
The irrigation minister reiterated that TS had a share of 954 tmcft of Godavari water and it was accepted by the AP government in the presence of Sri Krishna Committee. “We are constructing projects on the Godavari only to utilise our rightful share of Godavari river water. The central government accorded all the required permissions for the Kaleshwaram project. We will complete it under the leadership of chief minister K Chandrasekhar Rao. No one can stop it,” he thundered.
Harish Rao said they would provide irrigation water through the Sripada Yellampalli canal network package-2, which will be provided water from Suramma Cheruvu in Kalikota. The cost of the project is ` 204 crore. “The erstwhile undivided Karimnagar district will be like Konaseema in Andhra Pradesh very soon,” he said.Alleging that Yellampalli had not received water at all during Congress rule, Harish Rao claimed that the reservoir was filled with 5 tmcft of water in 2014, 10 tmcft in 2015 and 20 tmcft in 2016 during TRS rule.