BRS defends Kaleshwaram, slams Congress over project criticism

Karimnagar: Senior BRS leaders on Sunday defended the Kaleshwaram Lift Irrigation Project, describing it as a symbol of Telangana’s self-respect and accusing Congress ministers of making “misleading and uninformed” remarks about the project.

As part of the party’s ‘Kaleshwaram Bata’ programme, former MP Boinpally Vinod Kumar, former ministers Gangula Kamalakar and Koppula Eshwar, MLC L. Ramana, former MLC Jeevan Reddy, former MLA Sunke Ravi Shankar and Maitri Group chairman Kotha Jaipal Reddy, along with other party leaders, visited key components of the irrigation network.

The leaders inspected the Yellampalli backwaters at Kotilingala before visiting the Nandi Pump House at Medaram and the Gayatri Pump House at Ramadugu to review the ongoing water-lifting operations.

Addressing the media, Vinod Kumar said the project, conceived during the tenure of former Chief Minister K. Chandrashekar Rao, was designed to meet Telangana’s irrigation and drinking water needs. The BRS leaders explained the project’s staged water-lifting mechanism and rejected Congress’ claims regarding gravity flow.

They urged the state government to operate the pump houses continuously to ensure reservoirs across North Telangana are filled for irrigation.