Will Fight AP For Every Drop Of Water: Bhatti

Deputy Chief Minister Bhatti Vikramarka today laid the foundation stone for the construction of warehouses with a capacity of 10,000 metric tonnes at Kamalapuram village in Mudigonda mandal, Khammam district.

The facility is being built under the aegis of the Telangana State Warehousing Corporation at a cost of Rs 10 crore.

On the occasion, he said that not a single drop of irrigation water rightfully belonging to Telangana would be given up, and that the State's interests were more important than politics.

He blamed the BRS for the Banakacharla issue, and said that the Andhra Pradesh government's conspiracies and deceptions would be firmly countered.

"When Polavaram was being constructed, the BRS remained silent. When seven mandals were merged into Andhra Pradesh through an ordinance - which was not part of the Reorganisation Act - they failed to respond. When the construction of Banakacharla began, they showed no concern. Even when water flowed wastefully into the sea, they were indifferent. On top of that, they welcomed Andhra Pradesh leaders with red carpets and mortgaged the interests of our State. The BRS did nothing in ten years for the development of the irrigation sector. Our irrigation needs are still being met by projects built during Congress regimes on the Krishna and Godavari rivers. Not even a single useful project was constructed during their tenure. Even after spending Rs 1 lakh crore on the Kaleshwaram project, not a single acre has received water," he alleged.

"The BRS has been a curse on Telangana, and the State government is now correcting, one by one, all the mistakes made in the past ten years. The BRS leaders must stop criticizing us and understand that. In the past, warehouses with a capacity of 5.91 lakh metric tonnes were available to farmers. Within just one and a half years of our government taking office, we have added 10.75 lakh metric tonnes of additional capacity. Our government is working sincerely for the welfare of the farmers and the development of agriculture. That is why Telangana has emerged as the highest paddy-producing State in the country," he added.

He also said that the Telangana region had faced grave injustice in irrigation during the united Andhra Pradesh era, and that that was why people from all sections of society had fought to achieve a separate State. However, the threats were still not over, he said.

"Conspiracies are being hatched against our State. Everyone must stay vigilant and counter them effectively. Andhra Pradesh is initiating illegal projects that threaten to dry up our agricultural lands. It was only due to the effective arguments presented in Delhi by Chief Minister Revanth Reddy and Minister Uttam Kumar Reddy that the Banakacharla project was halted," he said.

"We are moving forward with a concrete action plan to fully utilize the Krishna and Godavari waters, and ensure irrigation for every acre in the State. While improving the State's financial condition, we are also implementing welfare schemes and development projects efficiently," he added.