Water Grid Project another Jalayagnam?

Telangana government had ambitiously taken the Water Grid project and allotted 4000 Crore in this budget for the project. Government had sidelined all the major major poll promises like 2 BHK houses for poor, free 3-acre land for Dalits and KG to PG free education by making Water Grid a top priority.

But many suspect this project to be another Jalayagnam project during YSR regime which was solely intended to make money for contractors and leaders. Water Grid project will cost 41000 Crore for the state. Tenders were issued for 1300 Crore in the first phase but the entire exercise is shadowed by frequent project design changes.

For instance, in Nalgonda district it was initially proposed to lay pipelines from the Akkampally reservoir near Nalgonda. Later the design was changed to Srisailam project, which is too far and will require more pipelines to be laid, thereby incurring unnecessary expenditure. The government went back to original design after opposition parties outcry. These suspicious steps force many to doubt if the Water Grid project is going to be the Jalayagnam of KCR to enable leaders to be cash rich by the next election.