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YSRCP, TRS to take Krishna waters dispute to Parliament

Andhra Pradesh and Telangana have been accusing each other of building unauthorised lift irrigation schemes dependent on the Krishna waters
Last Updated 18 July 2021, 17:09 IST

The Monsoon session of Parliament to commence from Monday could witness some sparring between the MPs from Andhra Pradesh and Telangana over the sharing of the Krishna river waters.

Setting their agenda for the session, both the YSRCP and TRS — the ruling parties in the two states have decided to take their ongoing tussle to New Delhi.

In a meeting held on Thursday to chalk out the strategy to be adopted in Parliament, Chief Minister Jaganmohan Reddy has asked the MPs to raise the issues pertaining to the Rayalseema Lift Irrigation Scheme (RLIS) and the Krishna River Management Board (KRMB).

YSRCP national general secretary and Parliamentary party leader Vijayasai Reddy said that they would raise the issue of “Telangana's illegal usage of water from inter-state irrigation projects”.

A day later on Friday Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao has “made it clear to the TRS MPs that as far as the irrigation waters are concerned, no injustice should be allowed to be meted out to Telangana under any circumstances”.

“The CM has suggested that whenever the situation demands, MPs in both Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha should fight for the water allocation rights in the state’s interests,” CMO sources said.

Andhra Pradesh and Telangana have been accusing each other of building unauthorised lift irrigation schemes dependent on the Krishna waters. The issue precipitated in June with Telangana using the river waters to generate electricity at Srisailam, Nagarjuna Sagar and Pulichintala projects following CM Rao's orders. Earlier, Telangana had raised major objections to the Reddy government's RLIS intended to draw Srisailam reservoir water to supply to Rayalaseema and Nellore, Prakasam districts.

Besides the Krishna waters, AP wants to focus on issues like Polavaram project revised costs and the Narendra Modi government's plans to privatize the Visakhapatnam Steel Plant.

“We would ask for the clearance of Rs 55,656 crore revised estimated cost of the Polavaram project, which is pending for 29 months. We want the Centre to release the Rs 33,000 crore pertaining to R&R immediately,” Vijayasai Reddy said.

Meanwhile, Andhra Pradesh has welcomed the central government's gazette notification last week approving the jurisdiction of the Krishna River Management Board (KRMB) and Godavari River Management Board (GRMB).

Syamala Rao, principal secretary, AP irrigation department said that KRMB and GRMB will have control over the operations and maintenance of the Krishna and Godavari basin irrigation projects, with effect from October 14. “The notification was due since the state bifurcation in 2014. The water shares will now fall under the boards' jurisdiction.”

Syamala Rao said that Telangana was generating electricity at Srisailam, Nagarjunasagar and Pulichintala without KRMB orders.

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(Published 18 July 2021, 17:09 IST)

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