Minister Uttam Vows to Complete All Pending Projects

 Nalgonda: Irrigation minister N. Uttam Kumar Reddy emphasised the Congress government’s commitment to completing all pending irrigation projects, which he claims were improperly redesigned by the previous BRS government, resulting in the expenditure of thousands of crores of public money.

Speaking at a public meeting to lay the foundation stone for the Jawahar lift irrigation scheme in Vangaveedu village of Madhira mandal in Khammam district on Sunday, the minister said the Congress government wanted not to waste the thousands of crores of rupees spent by the previous BRS government on irrigation projects. He specifically mentioned the Sitarama lift irrigation scheme as an example. The previous government redesigned the Indira Sagar and Rajiv Sagar projects into the Sitarama project, increasing the cost to ₹20,000 crore. During its 10-year tenure, the earlier government spent ₹10,000 crore on the project but failed to provide irrigation facilities to a single acre of land. To address the needs of farmers in the former Khammam district, Uttam Kumar Reddy assured that the Congress government is dedicated to completing the Sitarama project and supplying Godavari water to the farmers.

He strongly criticised the BRS leaders for making baseless remarks against the Congress government, based on comments made by Andhra Pradesh minister Nara Lokesh regarding the Banakacharla project and said that the Congress government opposes the Banakacharla project, which has been proposed by the AP government. “After an in-depth inquiry, the Justice P.C. Ghose Commission confirmed in its report that irregularities and corruption were the reasons for the collapse of the pillars of the Medigadda barrage. Yet, the BRS leaders are insulting the judiciary system,” the minister said. Uttam Kumar Reddy instructed officials to complete the works on the Jawahar lift irrigation scheme within one year, as it aims to stabilise irrigation for 33,023 acres of land.

Revenue minister Ponguleti Srinivas Reddy mentioned that farmers in Madhira and Yerripalem mandals have been facing irrigation issues for the last 35 years due to their designation within the third zone of the Nagarjunasagar Project. He expressed confidence that once the Jawahar project is completed, the farmers in these two mandals would have access to irrigation for two crop seasons each year. Roads and buildings minister Komatireddy Venkat Reddy, Khammam in-charge minister and animal husbandry minister Vakiti Srihari were also present.