Uttam Urges AP To Stop Power Use Of Krishna Waters

Replying to queries during voting on demands, the minister acknowledged the alarming drop in water levels and said precautionary steps were being taken. “Now that the water levels have dropped alarmingly, we have requested the AP government to stop utilising power production and preserve it for standing crop and drinking water purposes,” Uttam explained.

He reiterated that the government would complete the SLBC, a “long-cherished dream”, by June 28 and assured that the Dindi project would be completed within two years, supporting composite Nalgonda with 0.5 TMC per day. Uttam blamed the previous government for delays, noting it had borrowed ₹97,000 crore for projects. “After coming to power, the Congress government has repaid ₹41,000 crore principal and ₹16,000 crore interest. A balance of ₹54,000 crore principal and ₹27,000 crore interest remains. There is no need for apprehensions over projects as they are being undertaken on priority. Unlike the previous government which tried to skip critical links like R&R, land acquisition and forest clearance, we have earmarked ₹5,000 crore as a special package to clear hurdles and fast-track priority projects by June 2,” he assured.

Marking one year of the Sannabiyyam scheme launched on March 30, the minister said the Congress government had covered 86 per cent of the population under the PDS initiative and crossed one crore ration cards. “In contrast to the previous government which issued most fresh cards during the Huzurabad bypoll, we kept the window open for issuing new cards. It is now a continuous process,” Uttam noted.

On the shortage of LPG, he said the Union government and agencies had promised to contain the issue. “The supply of commercial LPG is affected and is being slowly overcome,” he added.