JADCHERLA: Asserting that Telangana would utilise its rightful share of river waters, Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy on Friday announced plans to construct a barrage near Jurala and several bridge-cum-barrages across the Krishna river. He said funds for the projects would be released through the green channel.
Addressing a public meeting before concluding his two-day tour of the erstwhile Mahbubnagar district, where he reviewed ongoing irrigation works, Revanth also expressed confidence that the Congress would retain power in the state. “Aur ek baar... Congress sarkar,” he declared, recalling that the TDP, Congress and BRS had each ruled for two consecutive terms between 1994 and 2024. “The Congress will be in power beyond 2034,” he said.
On the irrigation front, Revanth said Telangana was proposing to construct bridge-cum-barrages on the Krishna river in coordination with Karnataka. He said Karnataka had built similar structures on the Krishna and Bhima rivers and was utilising around 100 tmcft of water.
“The Congress is in power in Karnataka. Both states will share the construction cost of the bridge-cum-barrages. Telangana will seek 60% water from them,” he said.
Revanth said the Palamuru-Rangareddy Lift Irrigation Scheme would be completed from the headworks up to Uddandapur by June 2027, with works up to Lakshmidevpalli to be completed six months later.
He alleged that the previous BRS government spent around `1.81 lakh crore on irrigation without providing adequate water to farmers. According to him, the BRS government paid Rs 84,503 crore towards principal and interest on irrigation loans during its tenure, while the present government has paid Rs 52,120 crore in the last 30 months.
The chief minister said Telangana was seeking 90 tmcft for the Palamuru-Rangareddy Lift Irrigation Scheme and 20 tmcft for the Dindi project. After safeguarding Telangana’s share in Krishna waters, the government would discuss projects being taken up by neighbouring states, he said.
My image as CM has been clean, asserts Revanth
Revanth reiterated that the government would protect Telangana’s share of 968 tmcft in the Godavari and said surplus water could be assessed only after the state’s allocated share was fully utilised.
Revanth said the government would follow the recommendations of the National Dam Safety Authority and other technical experts while restoring the Kaleshwaram Lift Irrigation Scheme. He also said he would pursue the construction of a barrage at Tummadihatti and urged BJP leaders from Telangana to bring the Maharashtra chief minister for talks on the project.
Stating that there had never been allegations of commissions or contract kickbacks against him, Revanth compared BRS supremo K Chandrasekhar Rao (KCR) to a demonetised Rs 1,000 note and said he was answerable only to the people.
Responding to BJP MP Dharmapuri Arvind’s suggestion that he resign, the chief minister said Narendra Modi should instead step down as prime minister. He said a Rahul Gandhi-led government would procure all paddy produced in Telangana and complete pending works in the state.
He also accused the Modi government of failing to fulfil its promises of creating two crore jobs annually and depositing Rs 15 lakh into citizens’ bank accounts. Revanth said the state government had procured 75 lakh tonnes of paddy from farmers, while the Centre was procuring only 50 lakh tonnes. The state’s exchequer was bearing an additional burden of `6,000 crore to Rs 7,000 crore due to procurement of the remaining 25 lakh tonnes, he alleged.
He challenged KCR to attend the Assembly and debate the comparative development achieved during the BRS’s 10-year rule and the Congress government’s two-and-a-half-year tenure, saying he would apologise if defeated in such a debate.
Terming BRS working president KT Rama Rao and former minister T Harish Rao as “Billa and Ranga”, he said there was no coordination between them. “I will face a KD in the galli and Modi in Delhi for the sake of people and development,” he said.
On the proposed BRS padyatra, Revanth remarked that walking would help the opposition leaders’ digestion and suggested they continue up to Varanasi.
When a reporter remarked that “KCR means water and water means KCR” because the BRS had constructed irrigation projects, Revanth responded: “KCR means saara (arrack)... saara means KCR. KCR means soda... soda means KCR.”