Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MP Konda Vishweshwar Reddy launched a scathing attack on the Kaleshwaram Lift Irrigation Project, branding it the “world’s biggest engineering blunder” and a massive scam that has driven Telangana into financial turmoil.
Speaking to ANI on Saturday, Reddy said, “The Kaleshwaram Project is the world’s biggest engineering blunder and a huge scam that has devastated Telangana’s economy. The state, once among the richest, is now burdened with a debt of Rs 8 lakh crore.”
He blamed the present Congress-led government for failing to manage the crisis, alleging that it lacks funds even to pay salaries. “The government is financially paralyzed,” Reddy remarked.
Earlier, Telangana’s Irrigation Minister N Uttam Kumar Reddy had held the previous Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) administration accountable for the project’s failure. He described it as the “biggest man-made disaster since Independence” and “India’s most expensive engineering failure by any state government.”
He highlighted that Telangana is currently paying Rs 16,000 crore annually in interest and loan repayments for the project, severely straining both the state’s economy and its farmers.
Meanwhile, the Justice P.C. Ghose Commission, tasked with investigating alleged irregularities in the multi-crore irrigation initiative, has summoned former Telangana Chief Minister K. Chandrashekar Rao (KCR), former minister Harish Rao, and BJP MP Etela Rajender — all of whom were key figures during the BRS regime.
According to sources, the Commission has called KCR to appear on June 5, Harish Rao on June 6, and Etela Rajender on June 9, as part of its inquiry into financial and procedural violations in the controversial project.