HYDERABAD: The BRS government has betrayed the people of erstwhile Mahbubnagar and Nalgonda districts by deliberately neglecting the Alimineti Madhava Reddy Srisailam Left Bank Canal Project (AMR-SLBC tunnel scheme), said CLP leader Mallu Bhatti Vikramarka.
The Congress legislator from Madhira was speaking after visiting the AMRP-SLBC project at Jogya Tanda in Achampet mandal of Nagarkurnool district on Wednesday. While questioning the State government as to why it has not completed over 10 km of remaining tunnelling works, he pointed out the delay in completion of the project has escalated the project cost from Rs 2,259 crore to Rs 4,776 crore.
Stating that it was former AP chief minister late YS Rajasekhar Reddy who had started the construction of the SLBC tunnel project before the bifurcation of the State under Jala Yagnam scheme, he alleged that there is a conspiracy behind the State government not completing the project. “As part of its conspiracy, the State government is not clearing the pending bills of the contractor,” he said.
“SLBC tunnel project was designed to provide irrigation water to around four lakh acres and hundreds of villages under gravity-fed irrigation system. This project should have been the top priority of the State government after the formation of Telangana,” he said.
“Had the government completed the project in time, the living standards of the people would have improved to a greater extent,” he added.
Meanwhile, the CLP leader in an open letter to CM KCR said that people have been pouring out their woes during his padayatra. He said that the people in many villages have brought to his notice that police have been acting at the behest of MLAs. He appealed to the Chief Minister to direct the Police department to abide by the Constitution, law of land and police manuals.