KARIMNAGAR: TRS senior leader and former Karimnagar MP, B Vinod Kumar, on Thursday, claimed Prime Minister Narendra Modi had repeatedly ignored him and other MPs from the party when they requested him for national status for Kaleshwaram Lift Irrigation Scheme (KLIS).
Speaking to media persons in the city, Kumar said, “The Centre has neglected Telangana by ignoring Kaleshwaram and according to national status to Polavaram in Andhra Pradesh instead.”
The former MP said the Rs 80,000 crore used in KLIS was mobilised by the State government on its own, without any assistance from the Centre.
“KLIS plans to irrigate 45 lakh acres of land in the State. It needs another Rs 30,000 crore, and these funds have to be given to us by the Centre,” he said.
Kumar said KLIS is the biggest lift irrigation project in the world. “Companies that manufacture heavy equipment were surprised by the size of orders we placed with them for this project,” he said, adding that the first to benefit from KLIS would be the people of Karimnagar district.
The former MP also reacted to BJP and Congress leaders’ criticisms of the State government, with regard to KLIS. “Opposition leaders are not aware of the importance of KLIS. Their criticism of the State government is not correct,” he said.