HYDERABAD: The Telangana government is upset with the Centre's reported decision to confer national project status on the Upper Bhadra project in Karnataka, while ignoring its plea for a similar status to the Kaleshwaram or Palamuru-Rangareddy projects.
Earlier, the Centre had announced that no irrigation project in the country would get national project status in future. But its recent decision to confer national project status on Upper Bhadra is contradictory to its earlier stance, Irrigation officials pointed out.
Telangana wanted the Centre to accord national project status either to the Kaleshwaram or Palamuru-Rangareddy projects when Harish Rao was Irrigation Minister. In fact, the State government had repeatedly requested the Centre on this count. But, the then Union Irrigation Minister, Nitin Gadkari, had informed the TRS MPs in Lok Sabha that the Centre was not according national project status to any irrigation project as it shelved the policy.
BS Yediyurappa tweet infuriates Telangana officials
However, a tweet by Karnataka Chief Minister BS Yediyurappa on Friday claiming that the Upper Bhadra project received national project status infuriated irrigation officials in Telangana. "Upper Bhadra Project gets National Project status and will receive Rs 16,125 crore from Union govt. I thank PM @narendramodi ji & Union Min @gssjodhpur ji for supporting this proj which will be a boon to farmers of Davanagere, Chi tradurga, Tumakur u & Chikkamagaluru dists (sic)," Yediyurappa tweeted.