Uttam condemns Congress leaders' arrest, blames govt. for Kalwakurthy mishap

TPCC chief Uttam Kumar condemned the arrest of Congress leaders near Telakapalli when they were trying to visit pump house of Mahatma Gandhi Kalwakurthy Lift Irrigation Scheme (MGKLIS) which was submerged in the backwaters of Srisailam reservoir.

He spoke to media through video conference and said that the pump house submergence is a human error and blamed the government for the mishap. Uttam said that the government neglected the report of the expert committee submitted on June 20, 2016. He attributed the cause of mishap to the underground blasts being carried out Palamuru-Rangareddy project site that is 400 metres from the pump house.

Uttam asserted that the farmers will not be able to get irrigation water due to the mishap and demanded an apology from Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao. He also recalled the breaches to Kaleshwaram, Mid Manair and Kondapochamma Sagar and said that all those were caused due to the government's negligence.

On the other hand, Congress party working president Ponnam Prabhakar demanded the centre to look into the mishap and investigate the quality of the projects constructed under TRS government.

Earlier in the city, the police arrested MP Revanth Reddy, Mallu Ravi and AICC secretary SA Sampath Kumar and were sent to Uppununthala police station.