HYDERABAD: Even as he charged the Centre with being ‘anti-Telangana,’ chief minister K Chandrasekhar Rao trained his guns on neighbouring Andhra Pradesh for resorting to what he called its ‘dadagiri’ on Krishna water issues. He said there was a possibility of Telangana facing water (Krishna river) problems in future thanks to the Centre’s stand and AP’s alleged illegal projects.
Addressing a public meeting at Halia in Nalgonda district on Monday, the CM said his government would link Godavari and Krishna rivers soon to meet the water requirements of the state, especially the catchment areas of the Krishna. The CM’s remarks came at a time when the Centre took over 107 major and medium irrigation projects on both the rivers and both Telangana and AP were involved in a bitter war over Krishna water sharing, irrigation projects and hydroelectric power generation.
KCR said a survey was taken up to link Palair reservoir in Khammam district to Peddadevulapally in Nalgonda. “If this is completed, entire Nagarjuna Sagar ayacut will be irrigated,” he said.
Repeating that the new Dalit Bandhu scheme is a unique programme in the country, KCR said the government was ready to spend Rs 1 lakh crore on its implementation. “Of 16 lakh Dalit families in the state, 12 lakh families will be eligible for Dalit Bandhu. The government will provide Rs 10 lakh to each family. Initially, the scheme will be implemented for 100 families in each assembly constituency this current financial year.”
He said the government had set apart Rs 1,000 crore for the scheme in the budget and will sanction Rs 200 crore more. “The scheme will be extended to the entire state in the next two years,” the CM said.
The CM said Telangana is on top in various fields — be it paddy production, providing 24×7 power for farm sector, per capita power consumption.
“Congress leader K Jana Reddy said he would campaign for TRS in the elections if the government provides 24×7 power for agriculture sector on the floor of the assembly a few years ago. But, he did not keep his promise and contested in Nagarjuna Sagar by-elections,” KCR said.
The CM visited Nagarjuna Sagar constituency to keep his promise he made during the April bypolls. Though he was supposed to visit the constituency soon after the election results, in which the ruling TRS won, the CM could not come immediately as he was infected with Covid-19.
