Harish Slams Patil on Kaleshwaram, Says Govt Ran Away From Debates in Assembly

Hyderabad: Senior BRS leader and former irrigation minister T. Harish Rao on Wednesday condemned jal shakti minister C.R. Patil for saying that Rs.1 lakh crore was wasted on the Kaleshwaram project, saying, “Patil’s language mirrors that of Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy. This was a political attack by Patil exposing the bond between the Congress and the BJP when it comes to attacking the BRS.”

He said the Economic Survey previously released by the Centre had reported that Telangana’s cultivated area had increased from 1.31 crore acres in 2014 to 2.2 crore acres by 2023 and that this was largely due to the Kaleshwaram project. Irrigation minister N. Uttam Kumar Reddy too had stated in the State Budget that a new ayacut of 8,000 acres was added in the last two years.

“If Kaleshwaram collapsed, how can the government plan to bring 20 tmc ft of drinking water to Hyderabad from Mallannasagar by spending Rs.8,000 crore,” Harish Rao asked. “Even the Gandhamalla project, inaugurated by the Chief Minister, is part of Kaleshwaram.”

Harish Rao said he wrote 20 letters to Uttam Kumar Reddy requesting the release of Rs.50 crore, which could bring two lakh additional acres under irrigation in one year. “But the government is not doing this because if the ayacut expands, then its false claims about Kaleshwaram will be exposed,” he claimed.

On the Assembly Budget Session, he said it lacked direction and accountability, and the government evaded debate on public issues and its Six Guarantees.

He also questioned the ‘one-sided’ referring of one BRS MLA’s comments to the ethics committee while ignoring Congress MLAs who talked about “playing with knives,” “cutting heads,” and “social boycott” in the House. These too must be referred to the ethics committee, he said and added that the Chief Minister’s language over the last two years in the Assembly also deserved ethical scrutiny.