PNS|Hyderabad
Agriculture Minister Singireddy Niranjan Reddy said in a statement that the opposition is resorting to venomous false propaganda on the Palamuru Ranga Reddy Lift Irrigation Scheme.
“5.50 lakh acres ayacut including, Bhima, Nettempadu, Koil Sagar ayacut along with drinking water needs are dependent on the six TMC Jurala project which has no water. Realising this, KCR decided to pump water from the 216 TMC capacity Srisailam Project for the Palamuru Rangareddy Lift Irrigation Scheme,” he said.
“First they argued that it should be started from Jurala. Later, they complained that it was a forest area. After that complaints were made to the Green Tribunal that the environment would be damaged. Later, they tried to provoke farmers. Then cases were registered in the name of farmers,” Niranjan said.
“Now the opposition is singing a new tune. That is, how can we start with only one pump? There are 32 villages and 85,000 acres under the Palamuru Ranga Reddy Irrigation Scheme proposed under Jurala. The redesigned Palamuru Rangareddy Lift Irrigation Scheme needs only 27,000 acres to be acquired, three big villages and eight small thandas. KCR focused on more benefit with less acquirement of land,” he said.
The Tungabhadra basin has the highest water availability in the Krishna River. This water will also be available from Srisailam through Palamuru Rangareddy.
“No matter how many conspiracies they make on Palamuru Ranga Reddy, the government will not stop. They want the project to fail. If there are any obstacles in the way of the project, the people should be made aware of that,” he said.
“All Telangana lift irrigation schemes are being executed under the leadership of Advisor Pentareddy. So far around 250 motors have been installed under Pentareddy’s guidance. Advice and suggestions are taken regarding lift irrigation schemes from other countries. But they are also slinging mud at Pentareddy, an engineer with years of experience,” he said.
He said that it is noteworthy that leaders who are now spewing venom have ignored the basic fact that the then Chief Minister Kiran Kumar Reddy started only one pump even in the Kalvakurti lift irrigation scheme.
All other Kalvakurti lift irrigation pumps were completed under the leadership of KCR after the formation of Telangana.
Palamuru district, which lost out in the last 60 years, is standing tall under the leadership of KCR, he said.
