"World's biggest engineering blunder": BJP MP Konda Vishweshwar Reddy slams Kaleshwaram project

Hyderabad (Telangana) [India], June 8 (ANI): Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) Member of Parliament Konda Vishweshwar Reddy described the Kaleshwaram Lift Irrigation Project in Telangana as the "world's biggest engineering blunder" and termed it a "huge scam" that has severely impacted the state's economy.
Speaking to ANI on Saturday, BJP MP Reddy said, "Kaleshwaram Lift Irrigation Project in Telangana is the world's biggest engineering blunder and it's a huge scam which ruined Telangana economically. It is one of the prime reasons that the richest state of Telangana is in such a horrible economic condition. We have a loan of Rs 8 lakh crores."
"The present Congress government does not have money to pay salaries and run the government," he added, blaming the ruling party for the deepening financial crisis.
Earlier, Telangana Irrigation and Civil Supplies Minister N Uttam Kumar Reddy had held the previous Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) government responsible for the project's failure, calling it the "biggest man-made disaster" since Independence and the "most expensive engineering failure" caused by any state government in India.
He said that Telangana is currently paying Rs16,000 crore annually in interest and instalments on high-cost loans borrowed during the BRS regime for this "faulty" project, thereby placing an enormous burden on the state's finances and its farmers.
Meanwhile, the Justice PC Ghose Commission on Tuesday issued summons to former Telangana CM K Chandrashekar Rao (KCR), former Minister Harish Rao, and BJP MP Etela Rajender, who also served as a minister during the BRS regime, in the ongoing investigation into alleged irregularities in the Kaleshwaram Lift Irrigation Project (KLIP).
The Commission, which has been probing financial and procedural lapses in the multi-crore irrigation project, directed the three political leaders to appear for questioning in the first week of June.
According to the sources, KCR was asked to appear before the Commission on June 5, followed by Harish Rao on June 6 and Etela Rajender on June 9. (ANI)