Drinking water works in Kamareddy will be commenced soon : Shabbir

Nizamabad: The Congress activists in Kamareddy Assembly constituency in Nizamabad district are in upbeat mood as their leader Mohamed Ali Shabbir was elected as MLC recently.

Mohamed Ali Shabbir has an experience of 30 years in political field. He worked as minister twice and also worked in other capacities in Congress party. He was defeated in the General elections in 2009 from Kamareddy Assembly segment and also in the bye-poll in 2010. Despite his efforts, he could not get any post for six years. He was elected as MLC recently and this led to the buoyant mood of the party cadres.

Speaking to The Hans India on Friday in an exclusive interview, Mohamed Ali Shabbir said that the works relating to the drinking water supply scheme in Kamareddy would be commenced in a couple of days. "As I was not in power for six years, the works were not taken up,'' he said.

The scheme aims to bring Godavari waters to Kamareddy town and other villages in the constituency and it was proposed by him during his tenure as minister. The cost of the project was estimated at Rs 140 cr then and it escalated to Rs 210 cr now. It was planned to provide drinking water to 211 villages from Jalalpur to Mallannagutta.

He said that Rs 20 cr were already released by the Government and another Rs 20 cr would be released soon. Tenders for taking up the works were called for and the works would be started soon. The works in Kamareddy town were estimated at Rs 27 cr and for filter bed at Mallannagutta at Rs 14.70 cr.

With regard to power crisis in the State, the former minister said that the production cost would be up to 50 paise per unit of power by thermal power projects. Hydel power production costs between Rs 2.50 to Rs 3.00 per unit. There is a deficiency up to 400 mega watts in production. At the same time, power consumption by different consumers has increased which is leading to the power crisis.

"The production cost would be around Rs 16 per unit in solar power generation and the scheme can be taken up only if Centre offers subsidy. Wind energy production costs up to Rs 6 per unit and if the State Government comes forward to purchase wind energy, it can be produced by private companies,'' he said.

With regard to the progress of Pranahita Chevella project, the senior Congress leaders said that in the present status, the State Government has to bear 45 per cent of the project cost and it has no adequate funds. If the project is declared as National Project, then the Centre would bear 90 per cent of the project cost. Then the works would be speeded up, he added.

The scheme aims to bring Godavari water to Kamareddy and other villages in the constituency and it was proposed by Md Ali Shabbir during his tenure as minister