VIJAYAWADA: YSRCP Nellore district president and former minister Kakani Govardhan Reddy has demanded that the coalition government immediately restart the Rayalaseema Lift Irrigation Project, describing it as a lifeline for Rayalaseema, Nellore, and Prakasam districts.
Addressing the media at the YSRCP district office, he alleged that Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu suspended the project following a ‘secret understanding’ with Telangana Chief Minister Revanth Reddy.
Kakani warned that if works are not resumed, YSRCP will launch a large-scale agitation with farmers and irrigation experts. He said the stoppage has already triggered public anger in Nellore, evident in farmers refusing to join the TDP’s Somaseela–Kandaleru visit.
Conceived to provide assured drawal from the 800-foot level at Srisailam, the project was intended to stabilise drought-hit regions. Halting such a “sanjeevani-like” initiative, he said, amounts to betraying farmers.
He pointed out that Revanth Reddy himself claimed in the Telangana Assembly that he persuaded Chandrababu to stop the project, and Naidu’s silence only strengthens that charge.