Arvind Questions Revanth’s Silence on Kaleshwaram, Flags Farmer Distress

BJP Nizamabad MP Dharmapuri Arvind on Thursday accused Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy of remaining silent on the Kaleshwaram project while farmers were reeling under the impact of poor rainfall and El Nino-driven stress.

Speaking to reporters in Delhi along with Medak MP Raghunandan Rao, Arvind said the Congress government had set up the Justice P.C. Ghose Committee on the Kaleshwaram barrages collapse only as a “time-pass exercise” and not to bring the guilty to book or to help affected farmers. He questioned the Chief Minister’s selective push for a CBI probe into only three barrages involving about `8,500 crore, while avoiding scrutiny of the entire project, estimated at over `1 lakh crore.

Arvind asked why Revanth Reddy was not concerned about the quality of tunnels, pump houses and pipelines that formed the backbone of the project. He also alleged that the previous BRS government shifted dams from their original locations without geo-technical studies and went ahead without a detailed project report. The design of the foundations, he said, was altered and no quality audit was carried out.

He alleged that the government had failed to provide supporting documents to the National Dam Safety Authority (NDSA) which is examining the project. Citing Union jal shakti minister C.R. Patil’s remarks in Parliament, Arvind said huge sums were spent on the project without technical studies and the money was literally “washed away” in water.