More than anybody (party) else it is the Congress that is responsible for reducing Palamuru, the erstwhile Mahabubnagar district, to have gruel centres unable to produce enough food, provide drinking water and forcing people to migrate in search of livelihoods although two major rivers pass through it, Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) president K. Chandrashekhar Rao has said.
The district had many tall leaders who enjoyed posts and power but they had never fought either for providing drinking water to people or to irrigate the parched lands and instead supported leaders who diverted the river waters to Rayalaseema at the cost of Palamuru people who had the first right over water, he said on Monday addressing election rallies at Devarakadra, Gadwal, Makthal and Narayanpet.
“It was the Bachawat Tribunal that had sanctioned Jurala project on its own after witnessing the plight of the people here in 1974 and allocated 17 tmc ft water to it. However, it was not taken up until T. Anjaiah from Telangana became the Chief Minister. Water to the ayacut was not given even after completion of the project as water could not impounded in the reservoir until TRS (BRS) took up the cause in 2001 and the then government paid money to Karnataka to settle the land acquisition issue,” Mr. Chandrashekar Rao explained.
