Uttam dubs Harish stand on KRMB ‘false’

Hyderabad: Asserting that BRS leader T Harish Rao’s statement on handing over of combined projects under the control of the Krishna River Management Board (KRMB)was ‘false’, Irrigation Minister N Uttam Kumar Reddy on Friday said the government did not accept the proposal.

He was responding to comments of Rao, who had alleged that the government had accepted the proposal and it was detrimental for interests of people of Telangana. Reddy said the government did not agree to hand over projects to the board. The “Center held discussions on the projects on Krishna river, but we did not reply. All comments of the BRS leaders are lies. There is no truth in the statement of Rao,” said Reddy.

The minister said the BRS leaders have no right to talk about Krishna water. It was during the BRS regime that the share of Krishna water was reduced. State's priceless wealth was wasted under BRS rule. The Irrigation department is burdened with Rs 18,000 crore of interest and Rs 9,000 crore of unpaid bills. Every project taken up was for money, but not for water, he alleged. The issue pertaining to KRMB would be discussed and a decision taken in the Assembly. “We will take action against officials who do not follow rules as per laws,” he firmly stated.

Reddy said a team of ministers would visit the Sitarama project in two-three days. “I am shocked to see details that are coming out day by day. A decision would be taken after discussion in Cabinet,” he said, alleging not a single drop of water allocation was brought to Telangana during the ten-year rule of BRS. ‘Not even a single project was applied for national status in the correct format in ten years. He revealed that Union Minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat told them that national project status was not given anywhere in the country.