Hyderabad, October 09: Now that flood waters have receded, the question whether it was a man-made disaster is snowballing into a major controversy with the Opposition parties, particulary the Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS), baying for the state government’s blood and the latter defending itself tooth and nail.
Chief Minister K Rosaiah on Thursday not only refuted TRS chief K Chandrasekhara Rao’s allegation that withholding water at Srisailam reservoir to feed ‘‘illegal’’ projects had led to the floods but also asserted that irrigation department officials had done an excellent job. Refusing to be dragged into the controversy, Rosaiah said tongue-incheek, ‘‘I hear he had an eye surgery. I believe he is still recovering.’’ The TRS chief had on Wednesday said continuous storage of water in Srisailam reservoir to feed ‘‘illegal projects, including Pothireddypadu Head Regulator built on the river Krishna by the late chief minister Y S Rajasekhara Reddy, led to the unprecedented floods. He had also demanded that the Centre order a CBI probe into the ’’illegal projects‘‘ constructed under the ’’pretext of Jalayagnam‘‘. The TRS contention is that had the MDDL at Srisailam not been raised to 854 ft from 834 ft to facilitate storage of more water, the disaster would not have taken place. If the government had not issued a GO raising the MDDL, engineers would have emptied the reservoir and accommodated flood waters thus preventing floods.
Major Irrigation Minister P Lakshmaiah also joined issue daring the TRS chief for a public debate. ’’If Rao proves his point, I am ready to face any punishment. He can bring experts of his choice for a discussion,‘‘ he said. Quick on the uptake, the TRS chief reacted equally strongly from his residence in Delhi this evening. ’’I am ready for a public debate at the Public Gardens in front of at least one lakh people. If Lakshmaiah, proves me wrong, I will commit suicide,” he thundered.
—Agencies–