BRS govt frittered away Rs 1L cr on Kaleshwaram, says Revanth

Hyderabad: Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy took a broadside at the previous BRS government for constructing the ‘collapsed’ structure of the Kaleshwaram lift scheme at the cost of Rs one lakh crore. The officials of the entire irrigation wing will face punishment if the government takes action against those responsible for the Kaleshwaram issue, the Chief Minister said.

Handing over job appointment orders to the newly recruited AEEs in the State Irrigation department at Jala Soudha today (Thursday) in Hyderabad, the CM stated that the entire project turned out to be a big burden on the state. “The previous government spent crores of rupees on the construction of the Kaleshwaram project, but the structure collapsed. The officials should come out and tell who is responsible for this. Is it officials or politicians? If the government takes action, the entire irrigation wing will be dissolved.”

The irrigation officials were leveling allegations against each other regarding Kaleshwaram. Revanth Reddy emphasized that such situations would not have arisen if the wrong decisions taken by politicians were not implemented. The Kaleshwaram scheme has not provided irrigation facilities to even one lakh acres despite the expenditure of one lakh crore.

The CM appealed to the engineers to conduct regular field visits and monitor the progress of the project. Earlier, engineers used to conduct field inspections in the early morning and write reports. These days, officials have stopped visiting the field. The People’s Government has already ordered the officials to conduct regular field visits. Rs 2 lakh crore has been spent on various projects, and the works are still pending. This should not be repeated in the future, he instructed, emphasizing that officials appointed on recommendation should be sent to distant places as punishment. Officials should focus on their work and not on postings. Telangana will become a role model for the country once all the pending projects are completed.