Congress Government Challenges BRS Claims on Palamuru-Rangareddy Project Progress

Hyderabad — State Tourism Minister Jupally Krishna Rao contested claims made by the BRS party that the Palamuru-Rangareddy project had reached 90 percent completion under the previous government.

At a media briefing held Tuesday at the CLP media centre in the Assembly, Krishna Rao pushed back against BRS leaders who have announced a padayatra from Narlapur to Uddandapur calling for irrigation project completion in the former Mahabubnagar district.

Krishna Rao highlighted that former Chief Minister K. Chandrashekhar Rao had promised in 2015 to finish the Palamuru-Rangareddy project within two years. Despite this commitment, the project remains incomplete more than a decade later, he noted.

The minister pointed to financial irregularities in the project's execution. While ₹35,000 crore was allocated for pumps, motors and surge pools, only ₹25,000 crore was actually spent, he said. Krishna Rao estimated that approximately ₹1 lakh crore would be necessary to bring the project to completion.

A critical gap in the project's development, according to Krishna Rao, was the failure of the BRS government to secure the required approvals for main canals and distribution systems. He also alleged that the previous administration did not obtain the necessary 90 TMC water allocation for the project, a shortfall the Congress government now intends to address.

Krishna Rao further accused the BRS government of compromising Telangana's interests regarding Krishna River water distribution. He stated that agreements signed by former Chief Minister Chandrashekhar Rao and former Irrigation Minister T. Harish Rao established 299 TMC water as sufficient for Telangana. The current Congress administration is now demanding a 62 percent share of Krishna River waters for the state, he added.

Sports Minister Vakiti Srihari echoed the criticism, characterizing the previous government's approach as one of broken promises. Only 18 of the 21 project packages were undertaken, with three packages remaining neglected, Srihari noted. He also stated that less than half of the budgeted amount had been utilized. The minister asserted that residents of Palamuru have lost confidence in BRS leadership.

The press conference was attended by Government Whip Yennem Srinivas Reddy and MLAs Dr. Vamsi Krishna, Kasireddy Narayana Reddy, Dr. Rajesh Reddy, G. Madhusudan Reddy, Megha Reddy and Veerapalli Shankar.