TRS Blames Congress For Blocking Irrigation Projects

Irrigation Minister T Harish Rao on Friday accused the Telangana Congress leaders of creating hurdles for and delaying the Udaya Samudram Lift Irrigation Scheme in Nalgonda district.

Replying to a question regarding Udaya Samudram in the Assembly, Rao blamed the Congress for constantly creating impediments to the efforts of the state government in executing various irrigation projects.

The Congress had been filing numerous cases in courts and thus coming in the way of the projects taking shape, he alleged.

The minister pointed out that the state government had acquired 140 acres as per GO 123 for the Udaya Samudram project, and even as the farmers were ready to give the rest of the required land for the purpose, the Congress leaders got a stay from a court on the implementation of GO No 123.

He said that of the 3,248 acres of land required, 1,017 acres had been acquired so far. Due to the stalling of the land acquisition process now after the stay, the work was getting delayed, he said.

He pointed out that after the Land Acquisition Act came into being in 2013, no irrigation project had been completed across the country. That was the reason that the Telangana government was trying to work through GO 123, he said.

Rao claimed that the state government would complete the Udaya Samudram project within ten months if the Congress leaders withdrew the court cases.

The minister declared that the project would be completed at any cost by June 2018, and a one-lakh-acre ayacut developed.