Thu. Mar 28th, 2024


New Delhi: The Kaleshwaram project on the Godavari River in Telangana is touted to be one of the biggest irrigation lift projects in the country. However, it has been marred in controversy in recent years with allegations of corruption and violation of environmental laws. Before diving into its controversies, let’s try to understand the project first. The construction of the large-scale lift irrigation project started in 2016 and the project opened in 2019. A lift irrigation system is created to irrigate higher locations using mechanical equipment such as pumps.

According to the Telangana government’s website, the project aims to produce a total of 240 thousand million cubic feet (TMC). The website read, “The project aims to produce a total of 240 TMC (195 from Medigadda Barrage, 20 from Sripada Yellampalli project and 25 from groundwater), of which 169 has been allocated for irrigation, 30 for Hyderabad municipal water, 16 for miscellaneous industrial uses and 10 for drinking water in nearby villages, with the remainder being estimated evaporation loss.”

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The project was built for the purpose to to irrigate 18.26 lakh acres of land in 13 districts. In addition, it aimed to provide Hyderabad and Secunderabad with drinking water.

Yuvajana Sramika Rythu Telangana Party leader YS Sharmila who is protesting against the project currently has claimed that despite promises made by the KCR-led government to provide water for 18 lakh acres, the project was unable to provide water to even a mere 1.5 lakh acres. While speaking to reporters on Tuesday (March 14), she called it “the biggest scam in the country.”

As quoted by ANI, she said, “India has seen many big scams. I am here today to throw light on the biggest scam in the country, the Kaleshwaram Lift Irrigation Project scam. We will march to the Parliament to show how big this is.”

In addition, the state government was criticised for making three major changes to the expensive project, significantly increasing the costs to the state. Sharmila also alleged that motors were bought and brought in for the project when they were not really required and the project was merely to redesigned and changed to get commissions from contractors.

“The cost of the project was increased from Rs 38,500 crore to Rs 1.20 lakh crore, but yesterday The BRS minister claimed that only 1.5 lakh acres of land has been irrigated. This shows that Kaleshwaram is the biggest flop show but it has lined the pockets of a contractor and a family,” YS Sharmila said. 





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