Hyderabad, Aug.3 (UNI): Finance and Health Minister Harish Rao on Wednesday alleged that Union Jal Shakti Minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat was spreading lies on Kaleshwaram Project. Addressing a gathering after the inauguration of renovated CHC Hospital at Medchal, Harish Rao slammed Shekhawat for saying in the BJP public meeting that the Telangana government did not take environmental clearances before embarking on Kaleshwaram.
“A few months ago, the Jal Shakti Minister had announced in Parliament that all clearances were obtained for the construction of the project,” Harish Rao mentioned. The Minister accused Gajendra Shekhawat of showing a double standard towards the multicrore irrigation project Kaleshwaram and alleged that he was making baseless allegations only to malign the image of the TRS government.
Responding to the remarks made by Union Minister Gajendra Shekhawat, who said that the Kaleshwaram project would never get a “ national project status” as it was constructed with the wrong design, Harish Rao questioned Shekhawat as to why the Union government had given clearance from various departments if the project was in the defect. The Union government had given clearance from the Forest and Environment departments for the construction of the Kaleshwaram project. The State government also obtained permission from the Central Water Commission (CWC) for the project. A few months ago, even Union Minister Gajendra Shekhawat announced in Parliament, stating that the Kaleshwaram project had all clearances and no corruption was reported during the execution of the project. Surprisingly, when the same Minister visited Telangana to take part in the BJP programs, he is trying to find out loopholes in the prestigious Kaleshwaram project and made baseless remarks against the TRS government, Harish Rao said. Harish Rao said the Union Minister’s remarks were completely political and had made the remarks only to appease the BJP cadre. Stating that the Kaleshwaram project has become a lifeline by providing water for the entire Telangana State, the Finance Minister said the Kaleshwaram project water will be reaching Medchel Assembly Constituency soon and the Shamirpet lake would be filled with the Kaleshwaram water in next two-three months.
