Wanaparthy rulers built Sarala Sagar, not Nizam: Niranjan

Former agriculture minister S Niranjan Reddy has clarified that it was the Wanaparthy rulers but not Nizam rulers who had built the Sarala Sagar project. He said that it stands as a testimony to the lack of awareness on the part of the ruling party ministers about the basic facts.
When Irrigation Minister N Uttam Kumar Reddy quoted Nizam rulers building the project, former agriculture minister responded clarifying that it was the Wanaparthy rulers who had built the project. It was unfortunate that the
Irrigation Minister was not aware of the fact.
He alleged that the Congress Ministers have been spreading lies on the floor of the State Legislative Assembly.
One of the rulers of Wanaparthy, Rameshwara Rao-II, built the project in the form of a huge tank in the name of Sarala Devi. For the purpose, he deputed engineers to California in the USA to study the project. Later, he built the project at a cost of Rs 35 lakh in Sankarammapeta.
The then military governor general JN Chowdhary laid the foundation stone for the project on September 15, 1949.  The capacity of the project was 0.42 TMC feet. The project irrigates lands in nine ayacut villages. On July 26, 1959, the project was modernised and named as Sarala Sagar Project. The then PWD minister JV Narsinga Rao commenced the project, Niranjan Reddy recalled.
The Nizam rulers had no connection whatsoever in building the project. It was purely a project undertaken by the Wanaparthy rulers, he said.