KCR vows massive agitation over Palamuru-Ranga Reddy project, slams State and Centre

HYDERABAD

Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) president and former Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao announced that the party would soon launch a massive people’s movement in erstwhile Mahabubnagar, Ranga Reddy and Nalgonda, to expose the ‘slackness’ of the ruling Congress government in executing the Palamuru-Ranga Reddy Lift Irrigation Project (PRLIP).

He also slammed the Centre for “returning the Detailed Project Report (DPR) of the plan, and warned that the party would not spare the Central government.

Addressing the media, after holding a meeting of BRSLP and State Executive Committee at the Telangana Bhavan on Sunday, KCR accused Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy of completely neglecting the Palamuru-Ranga Reddy project over the past two years.

“Not even a tub of earth has been moved for the project, which was intended to irrigate seven lakh acres in the most backward areas of the erstwhile Mahabubnagar district alone,” he said.

Elaborating on the projects conceived during his tenure as the Chief Minister, KCR said that the Palamuru-RR project was proposed with a net allocation of 90.81 tmcft of water from the Krishna River. “We planned the project expecting a total allocation of 170 tmcft,” he said.

Claiming that the Centre had recently returned the DPR of the project, the former Chief Minister questioned the State government’s silence on the issue. “Had we been in power, we would have organised large-scale protests against the Centre’s decision. But this government remains mum. We want to know who is pressuring them to remain silent despite grave injustice meted out to the State,” he said, holding Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu responsible for returning the DPR.

KCR further claimed that the BRS government had already spent ₹27,000 crore out of the estimated cost of ₹35,000 crore for the project and acquired 27,000 acres of land.

He also slammed Irrigation Minister N. Uttam Kumar Reddy, alleging that he had written to the Centre agreeing to a proposal on an allocation of only 45 tmcft of water for the Palamuru-Ranga Reddy project. The former Chief Minister announced that he would address protest meetings in the three districts that fall under the Krishna basin and ensure the project’s completion at any cost.

“We remained silent for the last two years, but you (Congress government) have done nothing for the people’s benefit. Keeping this in view, we will fight tooth and nail for their welfare,” he declared.

Referring to Revanth Reddy’d governance, KCR accused him of failing on all fronts and misleading people with false promises to win the election. He also alleged that Revanth Reddy was involved in real estate business under the guise of a Future City project. He said that the MoUs signed during the recent Telangana Rising Global Summit 2024 would not materialise due to the lack of proper policies.