Hyderabad: Former Minister and senior BRS leader T Harish Rao strongly criticized Irrigation Minister N Uttam Kumar Reddy on Sunday for spreading what he called false claims about the Sita Rama Lift Irrigation Project.
Rao said the project is not just another government initiative—it’s a vital source of water for farmers in Khammam. He accused the Congress Party of trying to block the project by misleading people with lies.
According to Rao, the BRS government carefully planned the Sita Rama Project to solve long-standing irrigation problems in Khammam, Bhadradri-Kothagudem, and Mahabubabad districts. The project, he said, was designed under the leadership of K Chandrashekar Rao to avoid issues faced by older Congress projects like Rajiv Sagar and Indira Sagar, which struggled with inter-state disputes and forest clearance problems.
Rao claimed the Congress is now using legal routes like filing cases in the National Green Tribunal to stop the project. He accused them of intentionally delaying environmental approvals, even though the project has already expanded irrigation from 3.33 lakh acres to 6.74 lakh acres and boosted water storage capacity from 1.2 TMCFT to 10 TMCFT.
He also addressed Minister Reddy’s recent comments that the project lacks permissions. Rao called those remarks either a sign of poor knowledge or a deliberate attempt to confuse the public. He clarified that all required approvals, except one final nod from the Technical Advisory Committee (TAC), have already been obtained.
Rao urged Minister Reddy to check the facts with his own department before making public statements. He warned that such political games only harm farmers and delay critical development work in Telangana.
