BRS flays Congress, BJP’s silence on national project status to PRLIS

HYDERABAD

Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) working president K.T. Rama Rao has criticised the attitude of Congress and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on the issue of national project status to Palamuru-Rangareddy Lift Irrigation Scheme (PRLIS) and the have proved that their 8 MPs each are nothing but zero when it comes to the interests of Telangana.

In a statement issued on Tuesday, he expressed dismay over the silence of eight each MPs of Congress and BJP in Lok Sabha when the issue of national project status to PRLIS had come up. It was unfortunate that nobody tried to speak strongly in support of national project status to PRLIS.

He alleged that Congress had done great injustice to Telangana not giving national status to any project of Telangana, while providing the national project status to Polavaram of Andhra Pradesh in the AP Reorganisation Act at the time of bifurcating combined AP. The Centre had told Parliament that it was not giving national project status to PRLIS while stating that Ken-Betwa, Polavaram and Upper Bhadra projects were given the status.

The State MPs had no guts to question BJP by citing the promises made by the national leadership of the party in Palamuru (combined Mahabubnagar district) on giving the national project status to PRLIS in the past.

On performing Varuna Yagam, he alleged that the government was trying to divert the people’s attention with such acts as they would not bear fruit until the Narlapur (PRLIS) and Kannepalli (KLIP) pump houses were switched to lift the flood water of Krishna and Godavari rivers to fill linked reservoirs and minor irrigation tanks to assure at least one crop this El Nino year. Without human efforts such yagams would not give good results.

On the Godavari River Management Board (GRMB) meeting, Mr. Rama Rao reiterated the demand for its boycott if the proposed cancellation of approvals for seven Telangana projects remains on the agenda. He warned that the BRS would launch a “Jala Udyamam” in Telangana and intensify its agitation to protect the State’s irrigation rights, if the issue was not removed from the agenda.