Work on Adilabad airport to commence in a year: Telangana CM

Hyderabad, Dec 4 (IANS) Telangana Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy, on Thursday, announced that the work on the newly-sanctioned airport at Adilabad will commence in a year.

Addressing a public meeting in Adilabad, he claimed that Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh and Civil Aviation Minister Rammohan Naidu have assured to provide funds and other logistical support to complete the airport.

The Chief Minister while assuring people said that he would take the responsibility of the development of the backward Adilabad district.

"We will bring Airbus to Adilabad, where even 'Yerra bus' (Red bus) hardly traverse," Revanth Reddy said.

Red bus is a reference to the buses operated by state-owned Road Transport Corporation.

The Chief Minister announced that a new university will also be established in Adilabad district and it would be named after Indravelli or Kumuram Bheem.

The irrigation, education and communication facilities would be strengthened as part of the development of the district, he said.

The Chief Minister appealed to the people to elect good persons as sarpanches in the gram panchayat elections.

"Don't spend money on elections. If possible, Sarpanchs should be elected unanimously," he said and assured funds for development of villages.

Chief Minister Revanth Reddy lambasted the previous Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) government for ignoring the Adilabad district.

"The oppressed people dethroned the previous government and gave a big mandate to the people's government," he said.

Saying that development and welfare of all sections of people is his priority, CM Revanth Reddy said that he would speak about politics only during elections.

He added that he did not take a single leave in the last two years.

"I got the opportunity to be a Zilla Praja Parishad Territorial Constituency, MLC, MLA, MP and Chief Minister at a young age. I am striving to earn the respect of the people. I became the Chief Minister with the blessings of the people of Telangana and ruling the state without any hurdles for the last two years," he said.

He targeted former Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao (KCR) for shelving the Pranahita-Chevella project taken up at the cost of Rs 38,00 crore by former Chief Minister Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy in the erstwhile united Andhra Pradesh to provide irrigation facility to 16 lakh acres.

"Hundreds of crores were spent to provide water to Adilabad. After the BRS came to power, KCR abandoned the project and changed the name, village and the estimates. With an estimation of Rs 1.50 lakh crore, the BRS government constructed the Kaleshwaram project which collapsed in just three years. The KCR family amassed wealth through commissions from the project," the Chief Minister said.

Saying that the state government already called for tenders to build a project near Tummihatti at a height of 150 metres, the CM said that the project will provide water to Adilabad district.

He declared that he will lay the foundation stone for the project soon.

--IANS

ms/khz