Congress to form panel to assess Kaleshwaram impact

HYDERABAD: Congress has decided to set up a committee of retired engineers and irrigation experts to assess the Kaleshwaram lift irrigation project’s impact on environment. It also plans to provide legal and other assistance to those displaced from the project site, who are seeking ‘fair compensation’ from the government.

Ahead of the next round of public hearing on the project, TPCC president N Uttam Kumar Reddy held a meeting with senior leaders of his party at Gandhi Bhavan here on Sunday. Later, Reddy said TRS government had tried to politicise the public hearing conducted a few days ago on environmental clearances for Kaleshwaram project. He alleged that ruling party leaders did not allow the real stakeholders and public representatives belonging to the opposition parties to express their views on the project.

“By not allowing local people to express their views freely, TRS leaders tried to influence the central team during the public hearing. Therefore, our party has decided to constitute an expert panel to study the impact of Kaleshwaram project on the environment,” the TPCC president said.
Stating that Congress was not against the construction of irrigation projects, Uttam Kumar Reddy said his party was just opposing the ‘irregularities’ being committed by the government.

“The state government is changing the designs of the projects, which were started by Congress governments, only to get kickbacks from contractors while ignoring all safety and environmental norms. It is not constructing the projects for the benefit of farmers but for receiving commissions from contractors,” he alleged. The meeting was attended by former MLA Marri Sashidhar Reddy, TPCC Kisan Cell chairman Kodanda Reddy and others.

New Secretariat: Congress to hold people’s ballot on Sept 26

Hyderabad: Congress, which has been opposing Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao’s decision to construct a new Secretariat building at Bison Polo Grounds, has decided to hold people’s ballot to gather citizens’ views on the same. The party will hold the proposed opinion poll on Sept 26 at 20 places in Hyderabad. “I toured the twin cities and met people and gathered their views. People are against the government’s decision, as it is wastage of public money. Hence, Congress will hold an opinion poll on September 26 in Hyderabad,” Congress veteran V Hanumantha Rao said, while addressing media at Gandhi Bhavan here on Sunday. The boxes will be opened on September 27 to announce the people’s opinion.