BRS and Congress trade charges on water diversion by A.P.

The Opposition Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) and the Congress government in Telangana traded charges, blaming each other, on the issue of water diversion by Andhra Pradesh from the existing projects, and by taking up new ones.

The two sides accused each other of neglecting the interests of Telangana when they were in power in the past and now.

Minister for Irrigation N. Uttam Kumar Reddy alleged that the BRS had always tried to show its small efforts through a magnifying glass, while former Minister for Irrigation T. Harish Rao accused the present government of neglecting AP’s continuous plans to divert water from Krishna and Godavari river basins.

Mr. Harish Rao alleged that the Congress government is causing severe loss to Telangana by keeping silent on the issue of river waters as the NDA government in Andhra Pradesh is planning to divert Godavari water on a large scale to the Krishna and Penna Basins along with plans to divert water from Tungabhadra both by AP and Karnataka.

He stated that A.P. government had already increased the capacity of Polavaram Right Canal by three times of its original capacity to divert over 200 tmc ft water to Penna Basin via Banakacherla. He said A.P. is going ahead with the Polavaram-Banakacherla diversion project without securing clearances form the Central Water Commission, Godavari and Krishna River Management Boards and the Apex Council as per the provisions of the AP Reorganisation Act.

Later in the evening, Mr. Uttam Kumar Reddy said it was the previous BRS government which mortgaged the interests of Telangana by agreeing for 299 tmc ft water share in Krishna out of 811 tmc ft assured water allocated to combined A.P. He accused the then BRS government of accepting the 299 tmc ft share both in the first and second Apex Council meetings.

Further, he alleged that the BRS government had allowed an increase in waterdrawal capacity of the Pothireddypadu Head Regulator from 44,500 cusecs to over 90,000 cusecs as also the capacity of Malyal pump houses to draw water both for Handri-Neeva and K.C. Canal. Besides, the Telangana government also kept quiet on the Rayalaseema Lift Irrigation Project taken up by A.P. to draw over 34,500 cusecs of water through gravity.

Mr. Uttam Kumar Reddy said he had written letters to Union Ministers of Jal Shakti and Finance on January 22 opposing the A.P. plan to divert water from Polavaram to Penna Basin via Banakacherla.