HYDERABAD: Excise and Tourism Minister Jupally Krishna Rao on Friday accused BRS leader and former minister T Harish Rao of adopting “double standards” on irrigation projects in the Palamuru region and misleading the people with ulterior political motives.
Addressing the media at the Congress Legislative Office, the minister sought to know if “it’s justified to stall the Gollapalli reservoir project after issuing a Government Order for its execution”.
“It was the BRS which cleared the project when it was in power. Now, the same party is now trying to obstruct it,” he alleged.
“In 2016, the then government had issued a GO allocating Rs 4,177 crore for reservoirs with a capacity of 25 TMC. In March 2019, it proposed 27 reservoirs, including Gollapalli. How can they now oppose the same project? This is nothing but cheating the people of Palamuru,” he added.
Targeting BRS president and former chief minister K Chandrashekar Rao, the minister alleged that injustice was done to Telangana in Krishna water allocations. “Out of 811 TMC, Andhra Pradesh received 512 TMC while Telangana was left with only 299 TMC,” he said.
Refuting claims that 80 per cent of Palamuru-Rangareddy Lift Irrigation Scheme works were completed, he said the figures were misleading. “The estimated cost of the project is Rs 80,000. But only Rs 25,000 crore has been spent so far. Then how can anyone claim that 80 per cent of the works are completed?” he asked, adding that canals, land acquisition and administrative approvals are still pending.
The minister, meanwhile, challenged Harish Rao to an open debate on Palamuru irrigation projects.