ADILABAD/PEDDAPALLI: A couple of months after the Adivasi-Lambada conflict had broken out keeping erstwhile Adilabad district and other tribal-dominated areas on the boil, chief minister K Chandrasekhar Rao on Tuesday broke his silence over the issue and assured to find an amicable solution to the problem.
The tribal-dominated districts witnessed clashes between Adivasis and Lambadas over Adivasis’s demand for removal of Lambadas from ST category.
Rao addressed a public meeting after inspecting the Korata-Chanaka barrage works. “ Some political parties were fuelling the issue by provoking the two sections,’’ he alleged and appealed to both the communities to maintain peace.
Meanwhile, Rao continued his tirade against the Narendra Modi government for the third consecutive day and warned that if the Centre failed to provide minimum support price (MSP) for crops, his party MPs would stall the budget session of Parliament.
“The Centre’s inability to come to the rescue of the farmers was causing distress among the farmers and they were resorting to agitations,” he said and claimed that his would be the first government to extend financial assistance to farmers to the tune of `12,000 crore.
Rao said a reservoir, with 5.5 tmcft storage capacity, would be built at Kupti at a cost of `870 crore, a 7 tmcft Gomotri reservoir (`210 cr) in Boath constituency and Pipalkoti reservoir at a cost of `315 crore in Adilabad constituency.
After the Pranahitha-Chavella project’s redesign, 1.30 lakh acres in Asifabad, Bellampelly and Chennur constituencies will be irrigated. “In the next 18 months all the projects will be completed and 1 crore acres will come under irrigation,” he claimed.
Rao promised an airstrip, and an agriculture college and a Marathi-medium junior college for the constituency. His other sops included `78 crore for ST welfare and `7 crore for SCs, `75 crore for rural development and `50 crore for Basara temple development. He also sanctioned 1,000 double bedroom houses for the district.
In Peddapalli, Rao laid the foundation for Ramagundam lift irrigation scheme at Murmur. Due to SRSP’s faulty design, irrigation water was not reaching the fields, he said and announced that two lift irrigation projects would be built at Anthargaon and Vemuru in Palakurthi mandal, and another at Bandlavasi. “With these three lift irrigation projects about 22,000 acres can be irrigated and farmers can raise two crops,” he said.
The Ramagundam fertiliser plant was being renovated and production would resume soon, giving employment to about 5,000 persons, he said.
Harish’s absence raises eyebrows
Irrigation minister T Harish Rao’s absence from the chief minister’s meeting with peoples’ representatives surprised TRS leaders. Though Harish accompanied the CM on visit to Korrata Chennaka barrage work site, he was conspicuously absent from the meeting.
Unemployed youth shout slogans
Unemployed youth displayed placards and shouted slogans demanding jobs and tribal university during the chief minister’s address. Earlier, Rao attended a meeting of people’s representatives belonging to TRS at Diet in Adilabad town.