Telangana: ‘No flaw in Kaleshwaram project’, Agri min slams oppn

Hyderabad: Firmly stating that there is no defect in the Kaleshwaram Lift Irrigation Scheme (KLIS), state minister for agriculture Niranjan Reddy charged that opposition leaders were being ignorant when they criticise the state government.

Speaking to the media on Sunday, the minister said that the Godavari floods were a natural calamity, and did not come about because of human error.

“103.5 meters is considered a warning level. If water is flowing at the level of 104.75 meters then it can be said that the danger level has been crossed. 107.05 meters is the highest flood level recorded at Kaleswaram in 1986. Even the central water commission has stated that the recent floods were the worst in 500 years,” he said.

“It took decades to build a single project during the Congress rule. However, we completed the projects within three years. The Srisailam dam sank in 1998 and 2009. The Kalvakurti project was submerged twice. But still, Congress leaders are talking about natural disasters without any sense,” said Niranjan Reddy.

He added that there was no crop damage due to the floods, so there was no issue.

Leaders of Congress and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) criticised the ruling Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) government that the Kaleshwaram project was shoddily designed as many pump houses were submerged during the floods.

“Annaram pump house built with a cost of a lakh crores is now completely submerged in water. The hard work of Telangana’s people has been victim to KCR’s corruption,” said the leader of Telangana Pradesh Congress Committee, A Revanth Reddy.

BJP MP Etela Rajender said that chief minister K Chandrashekhar Rao (KCR) has to take the blame for the submerged pumphouses as he did not take engineers’ advice on the project. Etela added that there was a need for a full-time state minister for irrigation, a portfolio which the chief minister currently holds.

TRS working president KT Rama Rao (KTR) had previously stated in a press conference about it being obvious that pump houses are built next to the river and hence will get submerged during floods.