MAHABUBNAGAR : Irrigation Minister N Uttam Kumar Reddy on Friday accused the previous BRS regime of wasting massive public funds while failing to deliver meaningful irrigation benefits to farmers.
Addressing a press conference, along with Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy, he said the Congress government had undertaken the exercise with a clear objective of accelerating all ongoing and proposed irrigation projects and removing bottlenecks that had delayed their completion for years.
Uttam said that the CM’s two-day tour was intended to prepare a comprehensive action plan for completing all major projects in the erstwhile Mahbubnagar district.
Detailed reviews were conducted on the Palamuru-Rangareddy Lift Irrigation Scheme, Narayanpet-Kodangal Lift Irrigation Scheme, Kalwakurthy, Nettempadu, Bhima and Koilsagar projects, he said.
The minister said officials were directed to identify every obstacle, funding requirement, land acquisition issue, rehabilitation concern and forest clearance bottleneck so that projects could be expedited without any delays.
“We are moving forward with a comprehensive plan. Every project has been reviewed in detail. We know where the bottlenecks are, how much funding is required and what steps are needed to complete them,” he said.
Uttam further said that the state government was committed to fast-tracking irrigation development, maximising utilisation of Krishna waters and ensuring long-term water security for farmers of the Palamuru region.
The minister said that the Congress government was fighting effectively for Telangana’s rights in Krishna river waters than the previous governments.
Stating that Telangana was declared the number one rice-producing state in the country, he said: “We are not only the number one producer but also the number one procurement state in the country.”