Harish Questions Cost, Ayacut - Figments of His Imagination, Says Uttam
Uttam Kumar Reddy took serious objection to senior BRS leader Harish Rao’s comment that the government was all set to spend `35,000 crore for taking water from Tummidihatti to the Yellampalli reservoir
Hyderabad: A fresh war of words has erupted between irrigation ministers N. Uttam Kumar Reddy and his predecessor T. Harish Rao over the proposed barrage at Tummidihatti and its expected cost and benefits.
On Friday, Uttam Kumar Reddy took serious objection to senior BRS leader Harish Rao’s comment that the government was all set to spend `35,000 crore for taking water from Tummidihatti to the Yellampalli reservoir. Harish Rao had said that the cost of taking water from Medigadda to Mallannasagar was `84,000 crore but what the Congress government was proposing was preposterous, and that the government was claiming it would add 4.47 lakh acres of ayacut with the project.
Uttam Kumar Reddy, in a statement, hit back at Harish Rao saying there was no truth to the project cost mentioned by the BRS leader, or even the ayacut he mentioned. “The fact is that the government has decided to build a barrage at Tummidihatti to revive the Pranahita-Chevella project but the rest of Harish Rao’s claims are absolutely false. The government is yet to prepare the estimates. When this is the case, how can he trot out figures that do not exist,” Uttam Kumar Reddy asked.
The minister said that as and when the estimates were prepared, the government will make a formal announcement, and cautioned people not to believe “the fake propaganda by Harish Rao.” The Congress government is transparent in its decision making and is committed to farmers’ welfare, and to meet irrigation and drinking water needs in the state. As part of these efforts, the government has also speeded up completion of work on various pending irrigation projects, Uttam Kumar Reddy said.
Earlier in the day, Harish Rao in a statement, said while the Kaleshwaram project with its `84,000 crore cost was aimed at irrigating 37 lakh acres, the Pranahita-Chevella after spending `35,000 crore would irrigate only 4.47 lakh acres. While Kaleshwaram was designed to use 240 tmc ft of water from Godavari, Pranahita-Chevella will use only 80 tmc ft. “Though the Congress government is planning to spend a third of Kaleshwaram project cost on Pranahita-Chevella, it can’t even irrigate a tenth of what Kaleshwaram could,” Harish Rao had said.
