Hyderabad, February 22 – Telangana Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy dismissed on Sunday the allegations made by BRS President and former Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao and former minister T. Harish Rao that he was supporting Andhra Pradesh in diverting river waters, and made it clear that the state's water rights would not be compromised.
He urged BRS leaders not to politicize issues related to people and water by making baseless accusations.
During a meeting to review the Devadula project in the Mulugu district, the Chief Minister said he and his ministers engage in discussions with neighboring states while protecting Telangana's interests.
He stated that the government is ready to discuss the Godavari River waters in the Assembly's budget session and advised KCR and Harish Rao to provide their valuable suggestions.
The Chief Minister said that the Godavari water issue has been politicized. Taking a dig at BRS leaders, he said that if projects had been completed during their 10-year rule, there would have been no disputes.
He said that projects to utilize 960 TMC of water should have been implemented. At least now, the state should be prosperous.
CM Revanth Reddy said that the BRS government spent Rs 1.10 lakh crore on the Kaleshwaram project and neglected other projects. After the Medigadda barrage sank, water could not be lifted from Kaleshwaram. He said that, though the Kaleshwaram project had become useless, the state is producing the maximum paddy.
He also stated that an expert committee has been formed on the Kaleshwaram project. "We will not let the Kaleshwaram project go unused. Agencies are examining all aspects. We are taking precautions to prevent any damage in the future," he said.
"Kaleswaram is not their own property. It’s people's money. Let's not throw it away. We will bring it back into use," he added.
He admitted that there has been a shortage of funds to complete projects, but promised that all pending projects will be completed in two years. He announced that funds will be released soon.
The Chief Minister noted that the Devadula project started with an estimate of Rs 6,000 crore, but today it has gone up to Rs 18,500 crore. He announced that Rs 600 crore will be sanctioned before June 2 for land acquisition.
He said that all estimates must be placed before the government and approved in the Budget. He assured a special corpus fund for land acquisition for all projects. Stating that compensation will be released through a green channel, he said land issues cannot stall project works.
Ministers Uttam Kumar Reddy, Ponguleti Srinivas Reddy, Seethakka, MP Balram Naik, local MLAs and other leaders accompanied the Chief Minister.