Telangana: Congress-BRS Faceoff Over Krishna, Kaleshwaram Projects

Earlier, Reddy extended invitations to legislators from all parties for the visit, but both the opposition BRS and BJP have chosen not to participate.

Telangana Chief Minister Revanth Reddy, accompanied by MLAs and MLCs, has headed to the Medigadda project on the Godavari River

Source : X/@Revanth_Anumula

Telangana Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy, accompanied by his cabinet colleagues and members of the Congress party legislators, visited Medigadda Barrage on Tuesday. This visit is intended to draw attention to purported irregularities and corruption within the Kaleshwaram Lift Irrigation Scheme. On the other hand, BRS's 'Chalo Nalgonda' initiative sought to confront the state government regarding the transfer of the Srisailam and Nagarjuna Sagar projects to the Krishna River Management Board (KRMB) under the central government.

The ruling Congress and Opposition BRS in Telangana had been engaged in a conflict over water resources and related projects. Following this, Chief Minister Revanth Reddy, accompanied by MLAs and MLCs, headed to the Medigadda project on the Godavari River constructed by the previous KCR government. The Congress alleged a 133% cost escalation and corruption in projects on the Godavari River from the previous administration and considered initiating an investigation.

Earlier, Reddy extended invitations to legislators from all parties for the visit but both the opposition BRS and BJP have chosen not to participate. Several piers of the Medigadda barrage sank a few months ago and prompted the National Dam Safety Authority to send a fact-finding team.

This incident had sparked a significant controversy prior to the Assembly elections with the then opposition Congress leveling allegations of widespread corruption in the project. Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, accompanied by Revanth Reddy, also visited the Medigadda barrage on November 2 last year.

Meanwhile, BRS criticized the Congress government for purportedly handing over irrigation projects to the Union government's Krishna River Management Board. The rally in Nalgonda aimed to highlight the two-month-old Congress government's failure to safeguard the state's interests in river water management.

BRS senior leader and former irrigation minister T. Harish Rao, as per IANS, said, "Kaleshwaram does not mean just Medigadda barrage. Kaleshwaram means three barrages, 15 reservoirs 19 sub stations, 21 pump houses 203 km of tunnels, 1531 km gravity canal, 98 km of pressure mains, storage capacity of 141 TMC, lift to a height of 530 meters to provide 240 TMC water."