PNS|Hyderabad
In a high-impact speech at Jal Soudha on Wednesday, Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy hit out at previous regimes over incomplete irrigation projects despite spending lakhs of crores, and vowed that his government would bring transparency and speed in completing Telangana’s long-pending water infrastructure. He also assured that the Group-I recruitment process, which he alleged was deliberately blocked by certain political forces, will be completed soon. “We know who tried to obstruct the appointments—we will not let that derail the future of Telangana’s youth,” he said.
Addressing officials and engineers from the irrigation department, Revanth said, “You are not just employees—you are the emotional face of Telangana’s dream. Water is our civilisation. It was the yearning for water that sparked the Telangana movement.”
He said that even ten years after achieving statehood, key irrigation projects remain incomplete, raising serious questions about misused funds. “Over two lakh crore rupees were spent, yet most projects are still not finished. Where did that money go?” he asked, calling on bureaucrats and intellectuals to introspect.
In a direct attack on the previous government’s flagship Kaleshwaram project, Revanth called it an engineering disaster. “The only project in human history that was built and collapsed in three years is Kaleshwaram,” he said. “Despite spending a lakh crore, it failed to irrigate even fifty thousand acres.”
He questioned the lack of soil tests before construction at Medigadda, Annaram, and Sundilla, and mocked the centralised control exercised by non-technical political leaders. “Eighty-thousand books can’t make you an engineer. Let engineers do their job, and let politicians stay within their role,” he warned.
Revanth said that the state’s irrigation legacy—from Nehru’s era to old dam designs—stood strong despite natural disasters, but the recent constructions have become a symbol of how not to build.
Highlighting his government’s focus, Revanth pointed out that the irrigation department alone had seen the recruitment of 1,161 staff during the last fifteen months. “This is a department we consider absolutely critical,” he said.
He promised that the SLBC, Sitarama, Devadula, Nettampadu, and Sammakka Sagar projects would be prioritised and completed on a war footing. “Telangana’s biggest sentiment is water. We cannot afford to fail again,” he asserted.
Revanth closed his address by urging engineers to act with professional discretion and resist political interference. “The future of Telangana’s irrigation rests in your hands. Let us rebuild it right,” he said
