BRS leaders leave for Medigadda to counter Cong govt's 'propaganda' on Kaleshwaram project

Hyderabad, March 1 (IANS) Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) leaders on Friday left for Medigadda barrage as part of their ‘Chalo Medigadda’ to counter what they call "propaganda" by the Congress government against the Kaleshwaram project.

Barring BRS President and former Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao, all top party leaders including MLAs, MLCs, and MPs left for Medigadda from Telangana Bhavan, the party headquarters in Hyderabad.

Led by BRS Working President K. T. Rama Rao, the leaders left in buses for Medigadda in Jayashankar Bhupalpally district.

Some of the piers of the barrage sank in October last year, prompting the Centre to send a team of National Dam Safety Authority (NDSA). The issue took a political colour with both Congress and BJP targeting the BRS government and claiming that sinking of piers and flaws in design and execution as pointed out by NDSA in its report proved their allegations of corruption in the project.

After the Congress party came to power in December, it ordered a judicial probe and also an inquiry by the Vigilance Department into Medigadda.

Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy along with ministers and MLAs of the ruling Congress party, AIMIM and CPI had visited the barrage on February 13. He had invited all the parties to join the visit but both BRS and BJP stayed away.

After the visit, the Chief Minister alleged that around Rs 94,000 crore public money was wasted on the project as Medigadda barrage became useless with the sinking of piers within three years of its construction.

The Congress government also claimed that problems also started in Annaram and Sundilla barrages, exposing faulty design and poor quality of construction.

The BRS, however, dismissed the allegations of the Congress and accused it of running a campaign to malign the previous government.

Before leaving for Medigadda, K. T. Rama Rao reiterated that their visit is aimed at explaining to the people the benefits of the Kaleshwaram project and to demand the government to immediately undertake repairs so that farmers don’t suffer.

KTR alleged that the attitude of the Congress government shows that politics is more important for it than farmers.

“By not undertaking repairs, Congress has hatched conspiracy to see that the barrage washes out in the coming rainy season,” he said

The BRS leader advised Congress not to make farmers suffer for its anger towards BRS. “We are demanding that the government take up repairs of the damaged piers so that farmers don’t have to suffer. We have already said that the government can order any inquiry to punish those found guilty,” he said.

Senior BRS leader and former Assembly Speaker Pocharam Srinivas Reddy alleged that unable to see the benefits of Kaleshwaram project, the Congress was running a misinformation campaign.

“Medigadda is only a part of the big project. Out of 84 piers of Medigadda, only three have suffered damage. It may be due to technical problems. It happens in projects all over the world. The government should rectify the defects and take action but it should not politicise the issue,” he said.

Srinivas Reddy said through ‘Chalo Medigadda’ they want to remind the government of its responsibility.

Party’s senior leader and former irrigation minister T. Harish Rao, through a powerpoint presentation, will explain various features of the project and the benefits it accrued to the state.