PNS|Hyderabad
Countering the allegations made by the Congress leadership, the BRS’s Irrigation Minister Harish Rao delivered a data-backed presentation lasting 1.5 hours defending the Kaleshwaram Project and exposing what he called the “blatant falsehoods” and “contradictory narratives” being spread for political mileage.
He said that the BRS is ready to face the inquiry commission with facts and has nothing to hide.
Titled ‘Kaleshwaram Project: Setting the Record Straight,’ the PowerPoint presentation outlined the superiority of the Kaleshwaram Project over the earlier Congress-proposed Pranahita-Chevella scheme.
“That project had only 11 TMC storage capacity. But the Kaleshwaram Project was designed to store 141 TMC through 16 reservoirs,” Harish said.
He listed the reservoirs Medigadda, Annaram, Sundilla, Mallanna Sagar, Kondapochamma Sagar, Ranganayak Sagar and more, emphasising that Mallanna Sagar alone stores 50 TMC.
Harish presented statistics to show that Kaleshwaram irrigated over 20.33 lakh acres across Telangana.
They are 98,570 acres of new ayacut through direct irrigation, 39,146 acres via 456 minor tanks filled by Kaleshwaram canals, 1.67 lakh acres via 2,143 minor tanks fed by SRSP Stage 1, Stage 2, and Nizamsagar Stabilisation of 17.08 lakh acres under these major projects, and 20,576 acres irrigated through 66 check dams across the Kudelli Vagu and the Haldi Vagu.
He also detailed how Medigadda plays a crucial role in securing water even when other sources like the SRSP, Kadam and Yellampalli go dry. “We managed reverse pumping from Mid Manair to the SRSP during drought and protected crops in Suryapet, Tungaturthi, and Kodad,” he said.
The project supplies 30 TMC of drinking water to Hyderabad, 10 TMC to villages along the route, and 16 TMC to industries like Coca-Cola in Mulugu. Harish warned that a drought without Kaleshwaram would lead to an urban and industrial water crisis.
Harish tore into Congress leaders’ conflicting statements. While Revanth Reddy claims zero acres were irrigated, Uttam Kumar Reddy said 50,000 acres, and others claimed 1 lakh acres. “The official irrigation reports confirm 20.33 lakh acres,” he said.
He also exposed the drawbacks of the Pranahita-Chevella plan. “Despite being in power at the Centre and in Maharashtra, the Congress failed to secure permission for Tummidi Hatti. They spent Rs 2,328 crore with zero progress and misused Rs 1,052 crore as per the CAG report,” he said.
He named Komatireddy, Uttam, and Sridhar Babu among those responsible, while reminding that Revanth himself, then in the TDP, called it a ‘Dhana Yagna.’
Harish said the cost of the project under Congress went from Rs 17,875 crore to Rs 38,500 crore without even a single foundation stone being laid. “Uttam now claims Rs 10,000 crore was spent. The actual amount is just Rs 3,724 crore,” he said, calling it “Goebbels-style” propaganda.
Citing meetings with Maharashtra’s irrigation ministers and CWC reports, Harish explained how the FRL of 152 meters at Tummidi Hatti was not approved, forcing Telangana to look for an alternative.
WAPCOS, a Central agency, finally identified Medigadda. He pointed out that even the CWC had rejected the original DPR of the Pranahita-Chevella project as it lacked water availability and proper reservoir design.
“The Congress is more interested in witch hunts than in fixing the damaged pillars. The project is robust. Even after the damage, we managed operations via Mid Manair,” he said, adding that the CWC Chairman had once hailed the Kaleshwaram Project as an engineering marvel.
