Hyderabad: Criticising the Congress govt for neglecting the Palamuru (Mahabubnagar) region and stalling key irrigation projects initiated during the previous regime, BRS leaders said Congress inflicted long-term damage by failing to implement major irrigation projects over several decades. They also condemned CM A Revanth Reddy’s remarks during the Lagacherla public meeting on BRS leaders.Speaking at a press conference on Tuesday, former minister S Niranjan Reddy and V Srinivas Goud said that if projects such as Upper Krishna, Bhima, RDS and Tungabhadra high-level canal had been completed earlier, nearly 20 lakh acres in the region would have received irrigation through gravity canals.Niranjan Reddy said former CM K Chandrasekhar Rao undertook corrective measures by launching the Palamuru-Rangareddy lift irrigation scheme at a cost of around ₹35,000 crore. He alleged that the present Congress govt had slowed down or halted the project after coming to power.The former minister accused Revanth Reddy of failing to address farmers’ concerns despite recurring drought conditions. He questioned what tangible benefits Palamuru had received during the Congress govt’s tenure and demanded that govt disclose the extent of additional irrigation created in the region over the last three years.Alleging mismanagement of available water resources, Niranjan Reddy said govt had failed to secure water releases from Karnataka and lacked a clear strategy to utilise inflows reaching Telangana. He also criticised govt for not providing sufficient relief to farmers affected by crop losses and demanded compensation for drought-hit cultivators.Former minister V Srinivas Goud alleged that the state govt had not delivered on assurances of substantial annual allocations for the region and claimed that no major new development works had been initiated in Mahabubnagar district after Congress assumed office.
