Revanth must apologise for defaming Kaleshwaram, says KTR
HYDERABAD: Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) working president K.T. Rama Rao on Monday demanded that Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy and the Congress leadership tender an apology to the people for what he described as a campaign of malicious propaganda against the Kaleshwaram project, even as the state government continued to use its waters. Addressing the media at Telangana Bhavan, Rama Rao alleged that the Congress government had turned the Mallannasagar–Musi linkage project into a “criminal conspiracy”. He questioned why water was being brought from Mallannasagar instead of Kondapochamma Sagar.
Rama Rao claimed that project estimates of Rs 1,100 crore prepared during the BRS regime for Hyderabad’s drinking water supply had been inflated seven times to Rs 7,390 crore by the present government. He alleged that contracts worth thousands of crores had been awarded to firms blocklisted by central agencies. He further charged that the government had ignored offers by L&T to repair Medigadda piers at their own cost, while deliberately weakening the barrage to serve “Banakacharla interests”.
The BRS leader said that while the Congress earlier failed to create any storage under the Pranahita–Chevella scheme, the BRS government had constructed 15 reservoirs with a cumulative capacity of 141 TMC under Kaleshwaram. He described the project as the world’s largest lift irrigation system, comprising three barrages, 15 reservoirs, 21 pumping stations, 19 substations, more than 200 km of tunnels, 1,531 km of gravity canals and 98 km of pressure mains. So far, he said, the project had enabled the use of 240 TMC of Godavari water, irrigating 20 lakh acres. “Kaleshwaram is Telangana’s Kalpavriksha and Kamadhenu,” he added.
Boycott of Vice President election
On the agrarian crisis, Rama Rao announced that the BRS would boycott the Vice President election in solidarity with 71 lakh farmers, citing shortage of urea. He said both the Congress and the BJP had failed farmers. “If NOTA had been an option, we would have chosen it,” he said. He also questioned the silence of the Telangana police on the seizure of drugs worth ₹12,000 crore in Maharashtra, alleging that kickbacks had reached the Chief Minister.
Call for apology
Rama Rao recalled that even Revanth Reddy’s relative Padma Reddy had dismissed allegations of a ₹1 lakh crore scam in Kaleshwaram and that the National Dam Safety Authority report only recommended reconstruction of one block at Medigadda at a cost of ₹250–300 crore. He alleged that the Musi beautification project had been inflated from ₹16,000 crore to ₹1.5 lakh crore, accusing the Chief Minister of colluding with contractors and sending kickbacks to Delhi. On defections, Rama Rao said the Speaker must act as the Congress leadership itself admitted to luring legislators. He added that suspension of K. Kavitha was a collective party decision.
“Congress has for years poisoned the atmosphere with falsehoods about Kaleshwaram, but is now forced to rely on it. Chief Minister Revanth Reddy’s attitude of maligning the project in public while benefitting from it is akin to biting the hand that feeds him. He must apologise unconditionally to the people of Telangana,” Rama Rao said.