Telangana Did Not Borrow Loans For Irrigation: TRS

Responding to questions posed by the Telangana Congress in the Legislative Council today, Irrigation Minister T Harish Rao claimed that the State government did not borrow even a single penny for the irrigation projects in the State.

Harish Rao termed the Congress' allegation that the State was caught in a debt trap borrowing loans for completing the projects as "baseless", and said, "We did not borrow any money from the Centre. We used our treasury to fund all irrigation projects."

However the government did borrow a loan of nearly Rs. 19,000 crores from the Union government to recover from aftermath of demonetization, he added.

Harish Rao sharply criticized the Congress for its "nefarious designs" that tried to obstruct development for votes.

"While we are sincerely striving to complete the projects within the stipulated time, the Congress is only creating more hurdles," he alleged.

He also said that while the State government already spent Rs. 22,000 crores on the projects in just two-and-a-half years, the previous Congress regimes had spent Rs. 39,000 crores in 10 years but still couldn't solve the State's water woes. He sharply criticized the Congress for its "nefarious designs" that tried to obstruct development for votes.

"While we are sincerely striving to complete the projects within the stipulated time, the Congress is only creating more hurdles," he alleged.

The Irrigation Minister claimed that they could irrigate four lakh acres of land in the Mahbubnagar district alone by completing the pending projects.

Replying to another question, Rao said that the TRS government would complete the Palamur and Dindi projects at all costs despite the obstacles.

He added the government would fight the Brijesh Kumar Tribunal's recent verdict in court over the 70:30 water sharing ratio between the two Telugu States.

"To protect Telangana's interests in the irrigation sector, the State government will fight mount pressure on the BJP-led NDA government and solve the water-sharing once and for all," he promised.