Patriotic fervour marks Independence Day fete in Hanamkonda

Hanamkonda: It didn't take a lot of time for Telangana to make strides towards the development path after the formation of separate State, Minister for Panchayat Raj Errabelli Dayakar Rao said. Speaking at the 73rd Independence Day celebration held at the Police Parade Grounds here on Thursday, he said that Telangana stood as a model for development among other States in the country.

"Envisioning long term goals that orchestrate the economic growth of the State, the TRS government took up the herculean task of constructing Kaleshwaram Lift Irrigation Project (KLIP) to draw River Godavari waters. The KLIP is not only to cater to the irrigation needs but also to address the drinking and industrial needs in the State," Errabelli said, heaping praise on Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao for realising the project in just three years.

This apart, the government is committed to complete the Devadula Lift Irrigation project by March 2020. A 10 TMC feet capacity reservoir will be constructed at Malkapur-Lingampally as part of Devadula, he said.

Referring to the Sammakka Saralamm jatara, the Minister said that plans are afoot to provide facilities on permanent basis at Medaram for the comfort of devotees.

"Efforts were on to bring in monumental changes in the functioning of gram panchayats," he said, referring to the new Panchayat Raj legislation. The onus is on sarpanches and panchayat secretaries to ensure greenery and cleanliness in their respective village surroundings, he said. To bring in transparency, the government had bestowed joint check power to sarpanches and upa-sarpanches, he said.

"The proposed Master Plan-2041 is likely trigger all round development of the city," he said, referring to the components of the plan that include drainage, central lighting, junctions' development, greenery, growth corridors and inner ring road.

Stating that several projects - Bhadrakali bund, Padmakshi temple, Jain temple, museum in Fort Warangal - are in progress under HRIDAY and Smart Cities Mission, the minister said that good days are ahead for the tourism industry in the historical Warangal city. Efforts were on to provide infrastructural facilities in the MGM Hospital. As of now, the administration has sanctioned Rs 5.33 crore to procure emergency equipment in the hospital, he added.

Later, the minister felicitated the freedom fighters and distributed assets from fisheries, SC and ST wings to the beneficiaries. Warangal Urban District Collector Prashant Jeevan Patil, Mayor Gunda Prakash Rao, Warangal East MLA Nannapuneni Narender, ZP chairperson M Sudheer Kumar, legislators Aroori Ramesh, K Srihari, Commissioner of Police V Ravinder and joint collector S Dayanand were among other district officials present.

Meanwhile, MLCs Palla Rajeshwar Reddy and B Venkateswarlu hoisted the national flags at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium in Hanamkonda and Mulugu respectively.