KUMARAMBHEEM ASIFABAD: TPCC president N. Uttam Kumar Reddy said that Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao had once demanded national project status for the Pranahitha-Chevella scheme. But Mr Rao went on to redesign the scheme and dropped the project altogether, Mr Reddy told mediapersons at Tum-midihatti where a team of Congress leaders went to stage a protest.
Mr Reddy said then chief minister Y.S. Rajasekhar Reddy had laid the foundation stone for the project in 2008. The project at a height of 152 metres above sea level was designed to serve 16.4 lakh acres at a cost of `38,000 crore. He said water could have flown by gravity from the project to Yellampalli. Mr Rao had wasted Rs 80,000 crore of public money by constructing the Kaleshwa-ram scheme to achieve the same result. He said the government would need to spend heavily to supply power to the lift irrigation scheme designed by Mr Rao, which would not have been required for the Pranahitha-Chevella project. Congress MPs A. Revanth Reddy and Komatireddy Venkata Reddy, CLP leader Mallu Bhatti Vikramarka, former minister Sridhar Babu, senior leader V. Hanumantha Rao and others were among the leaders who visited the project site.
Congress women leaders offered harati to the river on the occasion.
The Congress leaders came to Kagaznagar by train from Hyderabad and from there they proceeded to Thummidihatti in a convoy of vehicles. They demanded the state government immediately take up the construction of the Pranahitha-Chevella project as Mr Rao had promised in the past. Mr Mallu Bhatti said nearly Rs 10,000 crore had been spent on laying canals for the Pranahita-Chevella project. Drinking water and water for industries could have been supplied if the remaining Rs 28,000 crore was spent. He said there was a possibility of providing water to 16 lakh acres by spending Rs 10,000 crore and the project would have needed less funds than Kaleshwaram.
