Former minister for Irrigation and senior Congress leader Ponnala Lakshmaiah has asked Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao to reveal why the pump houses of the Kaleshwaram project were submerged and why he was silent even after so many days.
“I have been arguing against the very design of the Kaleshwaram project ever since the Chief Minister signed an agreement with the Maharashtra government. And the recent floods have again exposed the design deficiencies in the project and also its utility,” he said at a press conference here.
Stating that KCR was a combination of arrogance and inexperience, Mr. Ponnala claimed that the very thought of the Kaleshwaram project emerged from a corruption angle and it was only serving KCR’s family that has garnered huge commissions in it.
He challenged Mr. Chandrasekhar Rao to prove if even an additional acre was given water from the Kaleshwaram project. One lakh crores of people’s money has been discharged into the sea through Godavari in the name of the project, he alleged.
Krishna waters
Accusing the government of compromising on the interests of Telangana in Krishna waters, he said KCR created a new controversy claiming to get water for the Palamuru-Rangareddy Lift Irrigation project through Jurala and this has led to the Centre objecting to the project itself through a Gazette.
He asked the CM to explain how he had failed to get water for the Adilabad district despite his promises while announcing the redesigning of the Congress project. Similar is the case with Sitarama Project, he claimed.
The former PCC chief also challenged the government to fill Mallannasagar with 50 TMC ft water and asked why the government was shying away from filling Kondapochamma Sagar to its capacity of 16 TMC ft. “KCR knows the dangers with filling up these reservoirs but still went ahead with their construction against all engineering practices,” he alleged.
