Kaleshwaram project constructed during BRS regime stands as testament to failure: CM Revanth Reddy

The multipurpose projects built during the Congress government under the leadership of the first Prime Minister, Jawaharlal Nehru, stand as a testament to quality, whereas the Kaleshwaram Lift Irrigation project, constructed during the previous BRS regime, collapsed within three years, said Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy on Wednesday.

Addressing a gathering during a function to hand out appointment letters to over 400 newly appointed employees, the chief minister alleged that the previous government led by K Chandrasekhar Rao failed to provide water to even 50,000 acres, despite spending Rs 2 lakh crore on irrigation projects in the state during its 10 year-tenure.

He further said it was due to the priority given to irrigation and education during the Nehru regime, India became food grains surplus country.

"The Kaleshwaram project, which collapsed within three years of its construction, is the first of its kind in the world. Engineers should recognise that the projects built by previous Congress governments and even during the Nizam era stand as testaments to quality. Kaleshwaram is an example of how a project should not be built," he said, taking a dig at KCR.

Reddy said according to the CAG reports, the total cost of the Kaleshwaram project was Rs 1.47 lakh crore and over Rs 1 lakh crore bills paid to contractors with still Rs 10,000-Rs 15000 crore pending dues.

He said the Congress government recognised the fact that the separate Telangana movement was based on "Neelu (water), Nidhulu (funds) and Niyamakalu (jobs) and accordingly took steps to appoint over 1,100 employees to the irrigation department during the past 14 months.

The CM said the state government will take the necessary steps to fill all job vacancies from Group-1 to 4.