Bandi seeks CS' permission to visit Kaleshwaram project

Hyderabad: Telangana State BJP chief Bandi Sanjay Kumar sought permission from the State Chief Secretary Somesh Kumar to visit the Kaleshwaram Lift Irrigation Project (KLIP) project site.

In a letter to Somesh Kumar on Sunday, he said that the State BJP was particularly alarmed and deeply concerned about the damage to the pump houses in the Kaleshwaram Lift Irrigation Project. "We are completely depending on the media reports, where information is not comprehensive and it is limited to the contractor's version or the government's claims," stated Bandi Sanjay He said that the KLIP is not a small project but a mega irrigation project Costing thousands of crores of rupees which belongs to public, it is facing a problem.

Against this backdrop and as a responsible political party, after much thought, the party has decided to visit the Kaleshwaram irrigation project mainly to allay fears, anxieties and also the various doubts and suspicions that are circulating in the public domain.

Sanjay Kumar told in his letter that the visit is not to politicise the issue, but just to clear our doubts. Adding, that the BJP is well aware of the fact that the damage is caused due to heavy rains and what it is seeking to do is not anything out of the ordinary. He reminded in his letter to the CS that over the years there are several such instances where political parties visited projects or places affected due to one reason or the other.

He said that when rains caused damage to the turbines in the Srisailam project in 1998 opposition parties visited the facility and assessed the situation. Later during 2004-2009 when there were allegations of corruption and faulty tenders in Jalayagyam, the government of the day held discussions at all the project sites in question with officials fielding questions from various political parties, irrigation experts and the common man.

Citing the earlier precedents, in his letter he said that considering the situation today, it is incumbent on us, the political parties, to go to the site and assess the situation to clear our doubts.

"We are planning to visit Kaleshwaram project site in the first week of September. We will be a team of not more than 30 including MPs, MLAs, former ministers, irrigation experts and senior leaders of our party. It would be in the fitness of things that you allow the media to accompany us," he requested the CS.

That apart, he also requested Somesh Kumar that senior officials of the irrigation department and the contractors too are present on the date you permit us to visit the project to clear our doubts. Besides, also depute those officials whom the CS consider appropriate for the purpose.

The Karimnagar MP has also said that the party is willing to send its doubts and questions in advance as it might help the officials to explain to us better at the project site. Once the CS permits a visit on the date, he said, the party would furnish the list of those who would be visiting the KLIP.