Rayalaseema Steering Committee chairman Byreddy Rajasekhara Reddy on Friday lashed out at the State and Central governments for being indifferent to the serious implications of the construction of the Upper Bhadra project in Karnataka.
“Chief Minister Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy is not aware that even his own Pulivendula constituency will go dry with the project coming up across the State border. Such indifference is unacceptable and the people of Rayalaseema will have to either question the government today or watch their throats get parched,” he cautioned at a meeting of students of Sri Venkateswara University here.
Accompanied by committee members P. Naveen Kumar Reddy and Pothuru Srikanth, Byreddy launched a signature campaign with students to protest against the sanction for the Upper Bhadra project and spread awareness on the ramifications of the project on the adjoining Rayalaseema. The meeting also turned out to be a precursor to the ‘Chalo Delhi’ call for staging a dharna at Jantar Mantar on July 28.
He renewed his appeal to the Centre to build a barrage-cum-bridge in place of the proposed iconic bridge at Siddheswaram, which would become a lifeline for the arid region. “The Centre may be ignorant, but the Chief Minister, hailing from Rayalaseema, will have to take the blame for letting the region down,” he warned.
Referring to the conferment of ‘judicial capital’ status on Kurnool, Mr. Rajasekhara Reddy said the region deserved its “lost capital and not just a namsesake judicial capital”. The proposed dharna at New Delhi is to fight for the just allocation of water, funds and jobs for the region.
