Krishna, Godavari Projects: Andhra Pradesh resorting to 'Dadagiri': KCR

Haliya: Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao on Monday alleged that the neighbouring Telugu state Andhra Pradesh was resorting to 'Dadagiri', and that the Centre was also working against the interest of the State regarding utilisation of Krishna waters.

Addressing a public meeting at Haliya in Nagarjuna Sagar Assembly constituency, KCR referred to the notification of the Union Jal Shakti Ministry taking over all irrigation projects on Krishna and Godavari in the State and said that if the matter was not resolved, Telangana could face water crisis soon.

The Chief Minister accused Andhra Pradesh of going ahead with construction of unauthorised projects on River Krishna. He said in order to ensure that Telangana does not face water shortage, he said it proposes to construct a lift irrigation project between Palair and Pedda Devulapalli tank and divert Godavari waters to meet the irrigation needs of ayacut under Nagarjuna Sagar. He said the government would also speed up the works on all the sanctioned 15 lift irrigation schemes in the erstwhile Nalgonda district. They would be ready in about 12 to 18 months, he said.

KCR said since people of Nagarjuna Sagar Assembly constituency had stood by TRS in the by-election, the government has decided to sanction a Rs 150-crore development package for the constituency.

He called upon the local leaders to plan on the works that need to be taken up with these funds so that it can be discussed in detail at a meeting which he would hold at the Pragati Bhavan soon. He said all elected members of the constituency would be invited for that final meeting. He also showered sops on the backward Nanikonda and Haliya municipalities by sanctioning Rs 15 crore each for the current financial year.

The CM also took a broadside at the opposition for criticising the just launched Dalit Bandhu scheme. He said that nearly 12 lakh Dalit families would benefit from the new scheme. They would get Rs 10 lakh without bank guarantee. "This year, 100 families in each assembly constituency would be covered under the scheme. This was making the opposition jittery," he said.