BRS Leader Slams Congress for Delay in Tummidihatti Barrage Talks

Recalling that the BRS government approached the Maharashtra government within 42 days of coming to power regarding the Tummidhatti barrage, former irrigation minister T Harish Rao on Monday alleged it took 1,054 days for the present Congress dispensation to hold its first meeting with the neighbouring state. Speaking to reporters here, Harish Rao alleged that diversionary politics has become a habit for the Congress. “The BRS formed the government in 2014. We went to Maharashtra within 42 days and asked them to agree to the construction of a barrage at 152 metres at Tummidihatti. The BRS government held half a dozen meetings with Maharashtra within the first six months of coming to power. It took you 1,054 days just to start talks. That’s your sincerity,” Harish Rao told Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy. The BRS leader alleged that the previous Congress government in the united Andhra Pradesh delayed the project and raised bills under the guise of mobilisation advances. “They shifted the source to Medigadda because the Central Water Commission informed them that no water was available at Tummidihatti,” he said. “In its letter on February 18, 2015, the CWC made it clear to Telangana that 160 tmcft of water is not available. In fact, we have 240 tmcft of water at Medigadda,” he said, adding that the Kaleshwaram project was a boon to Telangana.