Minister Jupally Slams 'Double Standards' of Harish Rao on Gollapalli Reservoir

Hyderabad: Tourism and excise minister Jupally Krishna Rao accused BRS leader T. Harish Rao of adopting “double standards” on irrigation projects in the undivided Mahbubnagar district. The previous BRS government had itself issued a government order (GO) for the construction of the Gollapalli reservoir, but was now opposing it for political gains, the minister said.

Speaking to mediapersons, Krishna Rao said that in 2016, the then BRS government had issued a GO allocating ₹4,177 crore for the construction of reservoirs with a capacity of 25 tmc ft. He pointed out that in March 2019, the BRS government had proposed 27 reservoirs, including Gollapalli, and termed the present opposition to the project as a betrayal of the people of Palamuru district.

Krishna Rao alleged that injustice was done to Telangana in Krishna river water sharing, stating that while 811 tmc ft was allocated to the two states, Andhra Pradesh received 512 tmc ft while Telangana was left with just 299 tmc ft, with then-Chief Minister K. Chandrashekar Rao signing the agreement. The minister added that reservoirs were essential to store water when levels in Srisailam were low, but such concerns were ignored earlier.

Dismissing claims by Harish Rao that 80 per cent of the Palamuru-Rangareddy lift irrigation scheme works had been completed during the BRS government tenure, Krishna Rao said there was no truth in the statement. He questioned how 80 per cent of the work could be completed with an expenditure of only ₹25,000 crore against the estimated cost of ₹80,000 crore.

He said canal works, land acquisition and administrative approvals were still incomplete, and alleged that pumps were switched on hastily before elections to mislead the public without supplying water to even a single acre. He also noted that while the BRS government spent ₹7,000 crore on Palamuru projects over the past decade, Congress governments in the undivided state had spent ₹8,300 crore.