Hyderabad, Aug 21 (IANS) Recent heavy rains and floods in Telangana caused extensive damage to roads across the state, resulting in losses to the tune of Rs 1,000 crore, officials said on Thursday.

Officials of the Roads and Buildings Department provided the figures of the losses to Minister Komatireddy Venkat Reddy during a review meeting.

The officials stated that several culverts, minor bridges, and stretches of highways were severely damaged.

The minister directed officials to prepare a detailed report on the damage caused to state and national Highways by recent heavy rains and floods.

He asked engineers to record the structural life of each asset and submit proposals for reconstruction wherever necessary.

Assuring that the government would provide durable, high-quality roads through the Hybrid Annuity Model (HAM), the Minister said tenders would be floated shortly and works would commence as soon as the monsoon recedes.

Taking stock of pending National Highway projects, he told officials to focus on securing early clearances from the Centre. He said he had already held discussions with Union Road Transport and Highways Minister Nitin Gadkari, who responded positively to the state’s requests.

Khanapur MLA Vedma Bojju, who attended the meeting along with senior officials, submitted a representation seeking improvements to the Khanapur–Bellampalli and Utnoor–Gudiatnoor road stretches, to which the minister assured a favourable response.

Later, in a chat with media persons, Minister Komatireddy Venkat Reddy launched a blistering attack on BRS Working President K.T. Rama Rao (KTR) for describing the Congress as a “dirty party,” calling the remark arrogant and disrespectful to the party that fought for India’s independence and delivered Telangana.

“Is the party that gave Telangana a third-grade party in your eyes? Ask your father, KCR, who once stood with Sonia Gandhi, the very leader who made Telangana a reality,” Venkat Reddy retorted.

The minister said the Congress party’s Vice-Presidential nominee was being applauded nationwide, and reminded that Justice Sudarshan Reddy, a jurist from Telangana, had raised his voice for statehood even while serving in the Supreme Court. “Opposing a son of Telangana for Vice President exposes the hollowness of your Telangana sentiment,” he charged.

Accusing KTR of arrogance and massive corruption, Venkat Reddy said: “Those who looted thousands of crores are now trying to lecture Congress. Ridiculing the Gandhi family, which sacrificed for the nation, only exposes his ignorance. Rajiv Gandhi was hailed as one of the best Prime Ministers, and Rahul Gandhi’s Bharat Jodo Yatra was for unity, not politics.”

On the fertiliser crisis, the Minister countered KTR, saying the Centre had failed to release urea for Telangana farmers. “Instead of questioning Delhi, you are indulging in baseless remarks,” he said.

–IANS

ms/vd