Telangana Assembly passes resolution placing conditions on KRMB takeover of projects ahead of BRS meeting

The resolution came a day before BRS had planned a massive public meeting protesting Congress government’s move to handover projects to KRMB.

Hyderabad: The Telangana Assembly on Monday moved a resolution laying down conditions on handing over common projects on river Krishna to the Krishna River Management Board (KRMB) under the control of the Union Government.

The resolution and discussion that followed it had sparked a heated debate between opposition and treasury benches.

Resolution came a day before BRS had planned a massive public meeting protesting Congress government’s move to handover projects to KRMB.

BRS have planned ‘Chalo Nalgonda’ in south Telangana on Tuesday where former chief minister K Chandrashekar Rao will be addressing a public meeting. It is his first such public appearance after last year's poll debacle and total hip replacement surgery.

It was reported in these columns that in the run up to the Lok Sabha polls, Congress government’s decision to handover projects to KRMB would snowball into a major political controversy. 'Chalo Nalgonda' is also being seen as a launch of BRS campaign for the Lok Sabha polls.

After moving the resolution, state irrigation minister, Caapt N Uttam Kumar Reddy had also shown a powerpoint presentation about irrigation projects in the state.

Old video clippings of Andhra Pradesh chief minister, YS Jagan Mohan Reddy, thanking the then chief minister KCR for his 'magnanimity' for allowing the state draw water from river Krishna for the needs of Rayalaseema, Krishn and Guntur districts were shown.

In the discussion Congress legislators alleged that the then KCR government had worked for the interest of Andhra Pradesh ignoring the needs of Telangana.

Chief minister A Revanth Reddy found fault with KCR for not attending the assembly while the house had taken up such an important discussion. He blamed the previous BRS government for the current state affairs of irrigation projects and misplaced priorities.

He alleged that it was not the current Congress government but the previous KCR government that had agreed to handover the projects to KRMB.

“After the formation of the new state of Telangana sufficient attention was not given to the requirements of the Krishna Basin and the then Government agreed to the grossly unfair ratio of water sharing between the two states which is 299 TMC to Telangana and 512 TMC to Andhra Pradesh. Through the AP Reorganization Act 2014, a Krishna River Management Board (KRMB) was created for regulating the water sharing between the two states. The then Government also proposed to hand over the common projects i.e. Srisailam Dam and Nagarjunasagar Dam to the control of KRMB, which is detrimental to the interests of Telangana. The KRMB jurisdiction to that effect has also been notified by the Government of India, which was not objected to by the previous Government,” said resolution passed by the Telangana assembly.

BRS termed the Assembly passing the resolution as a first victory as opposition. Both BRS working president, K T Rama Rao and former irrigation minister, T Harish Rao observed that in the wake of ‘Chalo Nalgonda’ planned by BRS on Tuesday, the Congress government had hurriedly moved the resolution on Monday.