Sridhar Babu ‘robbed’ 8 tmcft from SRSP, alleges BJPLP leader

Hyderabad: State BJPLP leader Y Maheswar Reddy on Monday charged State IT Minister D Sridhar Babu of acting like a de facto CM and take away eight tmcft depriving farmers under the Saraswati canal were yet to get their due allocated for standing crops.

Addressing the media here, he said the government is letting down all sections of people, particularly farmers. Accusing it having no control over the administration and not carrying out proper water management distribution, he said water in various irrigation projects has hit dead storage. ‘Most crops reaching the final stage of harvesting are drying up due to lack of water. "Minister Sridhar Babu, acting like a de facto CM by ignoring the water needs of farmers in north Telangana, has taken away eight tmcft from the SRSP," he added.

He said the State government has allocated six tmcft to farmers under the Saraswati canal; only 4.5 tmcft has been released for the canal. ‘Farmers are waiting for remaining water to save the standing crops, but, the minister has robbed them of their due and diverted eight tmcft to another area.

Reddy said earlier the State government had allocated Rs 7,000 crore for disbursal under the Rythu Bandhu Scheme (RBS). However, the same was not released due to poll code of the Assembly elections.

He alleged that the Congress came to power had diverted Rs 7,000 crore meant for disbursal to farms and demanded the government when it will disburse it.

The BJP leader accused the government of leaving farmers to their fate when drought-like conditions prevailed across the State. But it is only interested in collecting R tax (Rahul tax) and B tax (Bills pending tax) for commissions clearing the contractors’ bills. He said the government failed to meet its obligations and run the administration by bond sales and open market borrowings of Rs 17,000 crore.