Congress MP N. Uttam Kumar Reddy on Friday demanded that both BJP Govt at the Centre and TRS Govt in Telangana clarify their stand on the national project status for the Kaleshwaram project.
“Both TRS and BJP Govts must clarify as to why a project built for Rs 1.20 lakh crore and is called Asia’s biggest irrigation project is not eligible to be included in the list of the National Project. If the project is not economically viable, then all those involved in its designing, construction and execution should be severely punished by ordering a high-level probe,” he demanded.
Addressing media persons in New Delhi, Uttam Kumar Reddy said Chief Minister K. Chandrashekar Rao should reply to the Centre’s stand that the Kaleshwaram Lift Irrigation Project was not eligible to get National Project status. “In a question raised by me in Lok Sabha on Thursday, Union Minister of State for Jal Shakti Bishweshwar Tudu has revealed that the Telangana government did not obtain the mandatory investment clearance from the Centre and therefore, the Kaleshwaram Project was not eligible to get National Project status. The reply clearly shows that neither TRS Govt in Telangana nor BJP Govt at the Centre were serious in giving national project status to Kaleshwaram project,” he alleged.
Uttam Kumar Reddy said the TRS Govt did not seek investment clearance for the Kaleshwaram project as its benefit-cost ratio was too low which makes it highly unviable. “By redesigning the original Pranahita Chevella Project to Kaleshwaram, TRS Govt increased the project cost by more than double to over Rs 1 lakh crore. TRS Govt was always hesitant to answer real questions on the exact capital cost, operational cost, cost-benefit ratio, viability and justification of taking high-cost loans for the Kaleshwaram Project. Consequently, thousands of crores of public money was looted by TRS leaders to build such an unviable project that it does not qualify to be called a National Project,” he alleged.
He said several experts had pointed out that Kaleshwaram would ruin Telangana’s economy due to its non-viability. As per the original Detailed Project Report (DPR), the project cost was estimated to be around Rs 80,000 crore for Phase-I while the annual Operational & Maintenance (O&M) cost was expected to be Rs 13,923 crore. It was claimed in the DPR that the project would provide irrigation to 24 lakh acres. All these figures proved to be false as the project cost crossed over Rs 1 lakh crore while the O&M cost too increased significantly.
It also displaced over 30,000 people in 19 villages while affecting nearly 40,015 hectares of land. Therefore, to get an estimated profit of Rs 15,000 per acre, the State Govt is now forced to spend over Rs 53,000 per acre every year on O&M costs. “The Kaleshwaram Project has benefited only the KCR family while the people of Telangana and their future generations are now forced to repay loans and interest from their hard-earned money,” he said.
Uttam Kumar Reddy said the Kaleshwaram project was executed in a haphazard and sub-standard manner. He said the submergence of two pump houses of Kaleshwaram in recent rains has exposed the poor quality of work. “To cover up this failure, CM KCR came up with a ridiculous, utterly silly, immature and unscientific explanation of a foreign conspiracy behind cloud burst in Telangana,” he said.
Uttam said Union Home Minister Amit Shah, BJP president J.P. Nadda and other national leaders have been visiting Telangana frequently for political campaigns. “The BJP leaders are maintaining a strange silence on the irregularities in the Kaleshwaram project. The Central Government is having all the proof of this big scam. Then why is the BJP Govt not ordering an inquiry?” he asked.
Uttam Kumar Reddy said the TRS Govt did not pursue with the Centre on granting national project status for Kaleshwaram as it was unable to justify the investment in the project as it had a low cost-benefit ratio. “TRS Govt did not seek investment clearance and BJP Govt did not insist on it. Therefore, both TRS and BJP are equally involved in the scam,” he alleged.
The Congress MP also questioned the silence of the BJP Govt over huge corruption and waste of public money by TRS Govt in the name of Kaleshwaram over the last eight years. “Is it not the duty of the Centre to stop a State from constructing an unviable project to prevent loot and wastage of public money? Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his government never reacted when Congress raised the issue of corruption and non-viability of the Kaleshwaram Project on multiple occasions since 2016. Union Jal Shakti Minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat, while replying to my question in Lok Sabha in December 2021, said the Kaleshwaram project was accepted by the Advisory Committee on Irrigation, Flood Control and Multipurpose Projects of the Ministry in June 2018. How could the Centre approve a project worth over Rs 1 Lakh crore without looking at its investment clearance?” he asked.
Uttam Kumar Reddy also accused the TRS Govt of failing to stop the illegal construction of the Rayalaseema Lift Irrigation Scheme, Pothireddypadu expansion and Sangameshwar project to draw about 7 TMC of water from the Krishna River meant for Telangana. “KCR Govt has wasted over Rs 1.20 lakh crore on the pretext of drawing 3 TMC of water from Godavari River. But it did nothing to stop Andhra Pradesh from constructing illegal projects to draw 7 TMC of water from the Krishna River which was coming to Telangana State free of cost through gravity. He said the TRS Govt did not even approach the Supreme Court to get a stay on these illegal projects.
The Congress MP alleged that both TRS and BJP Govts were indulging in a blame game to cover up huge corruption and other irregularities in the construction of the Kaleshwaram project. He demanded that the Centre order a high-level probe into the irregularities and corruption to expose the culprits who looted public money in the name of the irrigation project.
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