Congress takes up cudgels against govt

scrapping of THOTAPALLI RESERVOIR

Organises a massive protest at Gagillapur on Rajiv Rahadhari

Hyderabad: The Telangana Pradesh Congress Committee (TPCC) held a massive protest at Gagillapur on Rajiv Rahadhari State Highway on Wednesday demanding that the State government execute the Thotapalli reservoir in Chigurumamidi mandal.

Speaking on the occasion, TPCC president Uttam Kumar Reddy condemned Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao for shelving the project as nearly Rs 500 crore had already been spent on the same.

He said by not executing the project, the Chief Minister was trying to waste public money. He said instead of cancelling pending projects, Chandrashekar Rao should release funds to complete them on a war-footing basis.

Uttam accused Chandrashekar Rao of wasting his time and energy by criticising the previous regimes. He advised Chandrashekar Rao to focus more on administration than criticism to ensure the development of Telangana State.

Congress MLA T Jeevan Reddy also criticised Chandrashekar Rao for trying to stall Pranahita-Chevella project by proposing change in design. He said that the project would not only cater to irrigation needs of seven districts, but would resolve drinking water problem of Hyderabad.

He said the TRS government had been trying to divide the project into two parts. He said such a move would deprive the project from getting the status of a national project. Former minister D Sridhar Babu, former MP Ponnam Prabhakar and other leaders also addressed the protest.

Later, the agitating Congress leaders and workers were arrested by the police. Meanwhile, addressing the media at Gandhi Bhavan in Hyderabad, TPCC chief official spokesperson Dasoju Sravan alleged that the present government, which fought for water, employment and funds, was now keeping the projects in cold storage by dragging them into dispute.

Stating that the previous Congress government had taken up irrigation projects in a big way in the then united Andhra Pradesh, Sravan alleged that the TRS government was hatching a conspiracy to scrap Thotapally reservoir under Mid Maner.

He alleged that the government was abolishing the project only to protect 140-acre land of one landlord, who was a supporter of TRS, from being submerged under the project when it was constructed.

He said the then Congress government released funds in 2007 only to provide water to 2.20 lakh acres of land by constructing Gouravelli, Gandipally and Thotapally reservoirs on Mid Maner project.

Sravan alleged that the State government had been trying to tran­sform Telangana into a desert instead of making it green. He made it clear that the Congress would launch agitations to put an en­d to the efforts of TRS government.