Telangana: Protest puts a halt on Kaleshwaram Irrigation Scheme

Hyderabad: Package 21 of the Kaleshwaram Lift Irrigation Scheme (KLIS) was halted for three days in Byrapur village in Mugpal mandal by Nizamabad Additional Collector B Chandrashekar on Thursday.

Residents in the community have been protesting for a few months, fearing that once the project is operational, they would lose their homes and livelihood. Engineers worked on the Byrapur pump house under police protection on Wednesday, despite villagers’ complaints.

The locals planned a large-scale protest on Thursday in reaction to the authorities’ intention to proceed with the operations. Residents who would be impacted by the project were allegedly asked to join a protest to halt the construction.

Several people were taken into preventative detention by the police, early Thursday morning.

Hundreds of villagers and farmers from Manchippa and adjacent villages arrived at the pump house project later in the day, despite being halted by the police on many occasions. The demonstration lasted a few hours.

Additional Collector, B Chandrasekhar Reddy, arrived on the scene and spoke with the protesters, addressing their concerns about the construction. Residents, on the other hand, refused to allow the construction to proceed.

Chandrasekhar Reddy later declared that the construction will be halted for the next three days. He stated that locals will meet with the district Collector before construction proceeds.