HYDERABAD: In an attempt to counter the allegations of the Congress government against the Kaleshwaram Lift Irrigation Scheme (KLIS), the Opposition BRS has decided to organise the “Chalo Medigadda” event on March 1.
All top leaders of the pink party, including MLAs, MLCs and MPs, will leave for Medigadda from the Telangana Bhavan on Friday.
Speaking to reporters here on Tuesday, BRS working president KT Rama Rao said that his party leaders would visit all the reservoirs of Kaleshwaram in a phased manner.
“We will also take the ministers if they want to come with us,” he said.
“Only three pillars of the Medigadda barrage were damaged. But the state government is conspiring to demolish the entire Kaleshwaram project,” he alleged.
“Kaleshwaram is not just Medigadda. It consists of three barrage, 15 reservoirs, 21 pump houses, 203 km tunnels, 1,531 km of canals and so on,” he explained.
Claiming that many projects, including Kadam, Gundlavagu, Musi, Singur, Pulichintala and Prakasam too faced several problems during the Congress regime, he said: “If a barrage or a project is damaged, then the government has to find solutions.”
“Our MLAs said in the State Legislative Assembly that the government, while taking up the repairs of Medigadda piers, should also take action against those responsible for these issues,” he added.
Stating that attempts should not be made to derive political mileage by highlighting the damage to three piers of Medigadda, he said: “The Congress, perhaps, was of the view that if the damaged piers are not repaired then the entire barrage would be washed away. This is a conspiracy being hatched by the Congress to ensure that all the three barrages would collapse during floods. With this criminal mindset, the Congress is not taking up the repairs and allowing around 3,000 cusecs of water per day go waste into the sea,” he alleged.
“Those who are talking about cost-benefit ratio of Kaleshwaram should first understand
the needs of the farmers. After the construction of this project, the ayacut has increased in the state and land values have gone up to Rs 30 lakh per acre,” he added.