HYDERABAD: BJP State president and Karimnagar MP Bandi Sanjay Kumar accused the TRS-led State government of favouring its close aides in allocating irrigation projects. A BJP delegation, consisting of an MLC and MP Bandi Sanjay, demanded a CBI inquiry into the issue and submitted a memorandum to Governor Tamilisai Soundararajan at Raj Bhavan on Saturday.
The delegation accused the TRS government of swindling thousands of crores from the State exchequer. It alleged that the cost of the Palamuru-Rangareddy Lift Irrigation Scheme (PRLIS) on river Krishna was increased from `32,500 crore to `52,000 crore, but the lift capacity was reduced from 2 tmcft (thousand million cubic feet) to 1 tmcft.
Later addressing the media, Bandi Sanjay alleged that Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao was part of the ‘irrigation scam’. “Instead of completing the projects started by the previous governments that are around 90 per cent complete, they (TRS-led State) are after PRLIS just for cut-backs from his favoured firms,” Bandi Sanjay said.
The leader added that only`1,000 crore is required to complete projects such as Kalwakurthy LIS, Bheema LIS and Nettempadu LIS and can collectively irrigate eight lakh acres. He further alleged that Mission Kakatiya costs `35,000 crore, but “not even one-tenth of the planned quantities were distilled but the contractors were in full.” MLC N Ramachander Rao, former minister G Vijaya Rama Rao, former MP G Vivek and former MLC Ponguleti Sudhakar Reddy were part of the delegation.