Harish Rao submits addl evidence to Ghose panel, counters Congress on Kaleshwaram
Hyderabad: Senior BRS leader and former Irrigation Minister T Harish Rao has submitted documentary evidence and additional information to support former Chief Minister K Chandrashekhar Rao’s statements recorded recently by the Justice Ghose Commission of Inquiry into the Kaleshwaram project.
The documents relate to the Cabinet approval of the Medigadda, Annaram, and Sundilla barrages, as well as their endorsements in the Assembly, Harish said. He accused Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy and state Irrigation Minister Uttam of spreading false information through PowerPoint presentations on water issues to blame the previous BRS government.
“We made sure to give the Commission as much clear information as possible. Since we are no longer in government, most of the original documents are with the current administration. I wrote letters to the Chief Secretary, GAD Secretary, and Irrigation Secretary requesting copies of Cabinet decisions, Cabinet notes, and other related records from those years. However, there has been no response from their side,” the BRS leader stated. He added that legislative approval, in fact, holds even greater weight than Cabinet approvals. “The documents we shared include six Cabinet approvals and three Assembly endorsements along with all supporting details,” he added.
The former Minister clarified that the escalation in project costs occurred due to increased storage capacities, larger ayacut, higher pumping requirements, and land acquisition costs. Every revision was backed by technical assessments and Cabinet approvals.
Harish Rao alleged that the Congress betrayed Telangana by allowing a 299 TMC allocation from the Krishna River. “Today, the same betrayal continues. Out of Telangana’s 34 per cent water share, only 28 per cent was utilised last year. Approximately 65 TMC of Krishna water, which could have irrigated 6.5 lakh acres, was let go to Andhra Pradesh as ‘Guru Dakshina’ to Chandrababu Naidu. Why was so little water used? Is this not your failure?” he averred.