KCR rains sops on Nizamabad village

STRIKING RIGHT CHORD

Chief Minister announces `2 crore financial aid to Mothe village in the district; Kavitha to grant `50 lakh

• Mothe is my own village, says KCR
• Take up green drive to attract rains
• Union Minister Prakash Javadekar lauds TRS govt’s green drive
• Asks other States to emulate Haritha Haraam programme

Hyderabad: Mothe, a small, nondescript village in Nizamabad district has got a shot in the arm on Monday when Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao announced sops during his visit to the village as part of Haritha Haaram project. Along with Union Minister Prakash Javadekar and MP K Kavitha, Chandrashekar Rao planted a sapling at a school in the village.

Speaking on the occasion, the Chief Minister announced Rs 2 crore financial assistance to the village for laying roads and drainage canals while MP Kavitha expressed willingness to provide an additional Rs 50 lakhs, if necessary. “Mothe is my own village and the soil is so powerful it should be mixed in farm wells for better crop yield,” he said. “It is my duty to develop the village, otherwise, I will lose my value,” Chandrashekar Rao said.

Recalling that he had taken the movement to the peak by carrying its soil, Chandrashekar Rao said the village would be developed with adequate funds. The Chief Minister attributed the poor rainfall in the district to the negligence of the previous governments. Chandrashekar Rao also announced Rs 80 lakh for village panchayat building, besides construction of a modern hospital and a transformer for power needs.

“As I cannot bring rains, it is for you to voluntarily participate in the massive greenery programme to attract more rains,” he said. Mothe village will get 1,000 more saplings in addition to 40,000 being given to every village as part of greenery expansion, he said and called upon people to protect the plants until they became trees to attract rains. He also announced double bed-room flats, Godavari waters, 100 per cent subsidy for sprinkler irrigation and turmeric platforms.

“Soon I will lay foundation for Kaleswaram project through which 3,000 acres out of the total 3,800 will be irrigated through drip irrigation. Speaking on the occasion, Union Minister Prakash Javadekar accused the previous governments of not developing forest region that resulted in poor rainfall.

He expressed concern that almost Rs 35,000 crore meant for such programmes was not used by the previous governments and the region was deprived of normal rainfall. Javadekar showered praises on Chandrasekhar Rao for taking up Haritha Haaram project like statehood movement.

The Union Minister planted a sapling in Mothe village on the occasion and said the project would help increase forest cover to 33 per cent. He also asked other States to emulate the Telangana Haritha Haaram project to expand greenery which was not implemented in any other State in the country. “Chandrashekar Rao achieved the statehood with people’s support and the BJP extended similar support from the Centre,” he said.

Javadekar said the Centre would allot Campa ( Compensatory Afforestation Fund Management and Planning Authority) funds to the States for similar programmes. He said Chandrashekar Rao brought about statehood by often sloganeering ‘Jai Telangana’ and now taking up the greenery programme to expand forest cover. He exuded confidence that the State government would take up massive afforestation programme in the near future.