Hyderabad: Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao said in the Assembly on Friday that all irrigation projects in Telangana required “re-engineering”.

He said that Seemandhra rulers in the undivided state had devised projects in Telangana right from Nagarjunasagar to Pranahita-Chevella in such a manner that they do not serve the purpose of the people in Telangana.

Mr Chandrasekhar Rao has decided to convene a meeting with all political parties and irrigation experts on re-engineering the projects soon.

“They (the irrigation projects) signify the cruel joke played by the rulers in the undivided state on Telangana. Their design itself is faulty and do not serve the purpose of our farmers or people. There is an urgent need to re-engineer irrigation projects. We all have to sit together along with irrigation experts, discuss and re-engineer them by setting aside our political agenda in the interests of Telangana,” Mr Rao said.

Chief Minister said that only the Sriram Sagar project in the state was lucky enough to be engineered and designed to suit the needs of Telangana farmers.

“This was because our Telangana bidda Marri Chenna Reddy was the CM of undivided AP for a brief stint, during the period when SRSP was conceived. There was also Koti Reddy, who was a great engineer at that time. Because of their combination, today SRSP is able to irrigate lands up to 6 lakh hectares,” Mr Rao stated.

Citing another example of how Seemandhra rulers had made mockery of TS irrigation projects, Mr Rao said, “The Dammugudem project has been taken up in Telangana but not a single drop from this project will come here while we lose agriculture and forest lands in Nalgonda and Khammam. Why should we spend public money on such projects?”

He was responding to suggestions made by Opposition leader K. Jana Reddy, who asked the government to prioritise the projects while sanctioning funds and completion of works.

“There are several projects in Telangana, which are on the verge of completion like Nettampadu, Kalwakurthy, Bheema etc. About 80 to 90 per cent works are already finished. By spending some amount of funds, they can be completed fast. But the government is trying to take up all the projects simultaneously which will lead to shortage of funds and non-completion of any project. This will lead to misuse of public money,” Mr Reddy said.

Mr Rao replied, “There is no dispute in your argument. I agree with you 100 per cent. But I want to tell the House that not only these few projects, but all the projects in Telangana need to be re-engineered. We don’t want to proceed unilaterally on this issue just because we are in the government. We want to take along leaders like you who have vast experience and take decisions collectively.”