Telangana CM A Revanth Reddy blames BRS for 'failure' on Krishna river waters

Hyderabad: Accusing the previous BRS government of "failing" to secure Telangana's rightful share of Krishna river waters, Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy on Saturday directed legal experts and officials to present strong arguments before the Krishna Water Dispute Tribunal (KWDT) to claim 904 TMC of water.

Reddy held a meeting with irrigation minister N Uttam Kumar Reddy, officials and legal experts ahead of Telangana's final arguments before the KWDT on September 23, 24 and 25.

During the meeting, the Chief Minister said Telangana should not lose "even a single drop" of water of its share in the assured, surplus and also flood waters of Krishna river, an official release said.

The CM said the state deserved a share of 904 TMC of water in Krishna.

The officials were instructed to immediately gather all the necessary evidence and hand it over to the legal experts to make arguments before the tribunal and protect the state interests, it said.

The Chief minister directed Irrigation Minister Uttam Kumar Reddy and the official team to participate in the hearing of the tribunal. The CM made several suggestions to the legal experts, including submitting all relevant evidence to the tribunal, on the "injustice meted out to Telangana" in the Krishna waters, it said.

"CM Revanth Reddy noted that Telangana's interests were ignored in the erstwhile AP and also during the 10 years of BRS rule in the allocation of Krishna waters as well as in utilization of available waters," the release said.

The government of former CM K Chandrasekhar Rao "failed miserably" in achieving the legal due share of water in Krishna, the Chief Minister said.

As a result, the projects on Krishna, including Palamuru Rangareddy and Dindi projects have been put on hold, he said.

The CM criticised KCR for committing a "grave betrayal in the matter of water sharing", the reelase said.

Revanth Reddy also instructed the officials to provide all evidence to the KWDT over the alleged illegal diversion of water by Andhra, the release added.