Former Chief Minister and BRS president K. Chandrasekhar Rao was the “whole and sole” of the Kaleshwaram Lift Irrigation Project, which is the world’s biggest engineering blunder, constructed with basic design flaws, charged BJP’s Chevella MP Konda Vishweshwar Reddy.
“Anyone in BRS will tell you that. Did not a former Governor call KCR as ‘Kaleshwar’ Rao? There is nothing wrong in what my fellow MP Eatala Rajender has told the Ghose Commission because KCR is the Cabinet and Cabinet is KCR,” he told a press conference at the State BJP office on Wednesday.
Mr. Reddy said that the ₹1.2 lakh crore project was built without proper analysis concerning geology, hydrology, weather science, engineering or economic viability. “They used barrages as dams, which led to weakening of the foundation and collapse of piers,” he alleged.
The MP said that Telangana has registered a record 2.80 crore tonnes of rice this year, and this happened without any help from the much-touted lift irrigation project as it was “non-functional”.
“The previous year’s rice output has been much less. We have not become number one in paddy production, but have become zero financially because of the debt incurred in building the project,” he said.
The BJP leader added that TG is growing more paddy than what the country needs or can handle. It is the Centre’s subsidies that are protecting farmers. “Each farmer is receiving up to ₹91,000 a year direct benefit, including fertilizers. This is much more than what farmers get in BJP-ruled states,” he added.
Published – June 11, 2025 09:18 pm IST
