KCR hits out at PM for not deciding T'gana's share in Krishna waters

HYDERABAD: Telangana Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao on Saturday slammed Prime Minister Narendra Modi for not deciding the state's share in Krishna river waters.

He said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who calls himself 'vishwagru' is unable to decide Telangana's share for 10 years.

"Why is it taking 10 years for the BJP government to write one letter to Krishna tribunal to give Telangana its rightful share," he asked.

CM KCR was addressing a public meeting at Kollapur in Nagarkurnool district after inaugurating the Palamuru Rangareddy Lift Irrigation Scheme (PRLIS).

KCR asked people to question BJP leaders why their government at the Centre was unable to determine Telangana's share of Krishna waters.

He said if BJP leaders from the undivided Mahabubnagar district have any sense of shame they should go to Delhi and ask the Prime Minister to decide Telangana's share.

The chief minister recalled that the state government had gone to the Supreme Court for determination of its share in Krishna water but the Centre asked it to withdraw the case promising to refer the matter to the tribunal.

"One year has passed since the Centre made the suggestion but nothing has happened," he said.

Earlier, KCR inaugurated PRLIS by switching on the first pump of the first-stage of the mega project at Yellur-Narlapur in Nagarkurnool district after reaching the venue from Hyderabad by a bus along with ministers and top officials.

The PRLIS is to tackle the extreme drought-prone conditions in Mahabubnagar, Rangareddy, Narayanpet, Vikarabad, Nagarkurnool, and Nalgonda districts by irrigating over 4.97 lakh hectares of land, equivalent to about 12.30 lakh acres.

The project also aims at supplying drinking water to 1,226 villages in 70 mandals in these districts.

KCR said that after commissioning the project he was as happy as he was when the Bill was passed in the Parliament to create Telangana state.

He said it is a matter of pride how the scheme overcame numerous obstacles and was completed with the government's vision of self-rule.

PRLIS is the second major project after Kaleshwaram to be undertaken by the KCR government. Giant pumps installed as part of the project have been nicknamed "Maha Baahubali pumps".

These pumps with operational capacity of 145 MW will pump water into Narlapur reservoir which is two km away. These are said to be the most powerful pumps in the world.

The capacity of the motors of Kaleshwaram Lift Irrigation Scheme earlier completed by the state on Godavari river was 139 MW and they were nicknamed 'Baahubali pumps'.