Telangana: Union Minister G Kishan Reddy calls for judicial inquiry into Kaleshwaram project irregularities

Hyderabad (Telangana) [India], November 3 : Amid the controversy over alleged lapses in the Kaleshwaram lift irrigation project on the Godavari river in poll-bound Telangana, Union Minister and State Bharatiya Janata Party president, G Kishan Reddy, has called for a judicial inquiry into the matter.
"This project made by the KCR government is sinking now. The future of this project is under question now. The money invested in it is wasted now. I demand a judicial inquiry into this", Reddy said while speaking to reporters in Telangana's Hyderabad.
Meanwhile, the state has been witnessing a war of words between the ruling Bharat Rashtra Samiti (BRS) and the Congress party over the alleged lapses in the irrigation project.
Congress MP Rahul Gandhi on Thursday accused Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrasekar Rao of "looting" the people of Telangana adding that KCR and his family are using the Kaleshwaram Project as their "personal ATM".
Referring to the Kaleshwaram Lift Irrigation Scheme while addressing a 'Mahila Sadassu' in Ambatpally village in Telangana, Rahul Gandhi said, "Rs 1 lakh crore was stolen from the people of Telangana here. Nobody here benefitted from it. Our workers are right that the Kaleshwaram project is BRS's ATM but change it to 'Kaleshwaram is KCR's ATM, it is his family's ATM."
Rahul Gandhi later visited the Meddigadda barrage, a part of the Kaleswaram project where a few pillars of the barrage are reportedly sinking.
However, the Telangana Minister and BRS leader hit back at the Congress asking the latter not "to lecture on corruption".
The Kaleshwaram Lift Irrigation Project (KLIP) is a multi-purpose irrigation project on the Godavari River in Telangana's Kaleshwaram.
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, according to an official statement.
The state is going to polls on November 30. The counting of votes will take place on December 3. The state is set to witness a triangular contest between the ruling BRS, Congress, and the BJP.
In the previous Assembly elections in 2018, the BRS won 88 of the 119 seats, hogging 47.4 per cent of the total vote share. The Congress finished a distant second with 19 seats and a vote share of 28.7 per cent.