Harish Says Uttam Failed as Irrigation Minister

Hyderabad: Former irrigation minister and senior BRS leader T. Harish Rao on Monday charged irrigation minister N. Uttam Kumar Reddy with double talk on the Palamuru Rangareddy lift irrigation scheme (PRLIS). “He is not answering the critical questions raised by BRS president and former chief minister K. Chandrashekar Rao on why he wrote a letter to the Centre saying 45 tmc ft of water was enough for the project when it was designed for using 90 tmc ft,” Harish Rao said.

Speaking with reporters in the Assembly, Harish Rao said Uttam Kumar Reddy “appeared to have been negatively influenced by his association with Chief Minister Revanth Reddy as Uttam’s claims are far from the truth. The GO 90 issued during the BRS regime for 90 tmc ft for Palamuru is very clear. My direct question to the minister is has this not been reduced to 45 tmc by him or not?”

The BRS government, Harish Rao said, secured seven crucial permissions for irrigation projects. The Congress government failed to secure even a single permission in two years.

On allegations that the BRS government neglected PRLIS, Harish Rao said “to ensure work did not stop, we continued with the project by taking up its drinking water supply component first. We excavated two tunnels for the 2 tmc ft capacity and I openly challenge Uttam on this specific matter.”

“He also must answer on why the Congress government stayed silent even though the detailed project report was returned by the Centre a year ago, and why this government did not show any interest in resubmitting it.” He added the BRS government had spent Rs.27,000 crore and acquired 27,000 acres of land to make the PRLIS project a reality.