Act decisively on river water issues, Harish tells Congress government in State

Former Minister raises alarm over Telangana government's negligence in addressing critical river water-related challenges facing State

Hyderabad: Former Minister and senior MLA T Harish Rao has raised alarm over the Congress government’s negligence in addressing critical river water-related challenges facing the State.

Amid neighbouring Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka making efforts to construct new projects on Godavari and Tungabhdra Rivers to divert their water, he called for immediate and decisive action to safeguard the State’s rights, failing which could cause irreparable loss for Telangana.

---

He called on the State government to act on a war footing to address these challenges, safeguard the State’s interests, and halt illegal projects by neighbouring States.

Speaking at a press conference at Telangana Bhavan on Friday, Harish pointed to Andhra Pradesh’s ongoing efforts to divert 200 TMC of Godavari water to the Penna Basin through projects such as the Banakacherla.

He expressed concern that these projects are progressing without the necessary clearances from the Central Water Commission, the Godavari and Krishna River Management Boards, or the Apex Council, as mandated by the Andhra Pradesh Reorganisation Act.

He pointed out that Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu had written twice to Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman seeking around Rs 80,112 crore for the Banakacherla and other projects under the National River Interlinking Project. The Centre had even agreed to facilitate Rs 40,000 crore loan from Asian Development Bank for the illegal projects, he added.

The former Irrigation Minister criticised the Telangana government for not raising objections or writing to the Centre to halt these projects.

“Andhra Pradesh is moving forward at a rapid pace, while our government remains passive. Why has not the Chief Minister or the Ministers met the Prime Minister or the union Ministers to stop these illegal projects?” he questioned.

He asked what prevented Chief Minister Revanth Reddy from questioning the Centre’s support to these illegal projects. wondered whether Chief Minister Revanth Reddy was offering Gurudakshina to the Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister by remaining silent on the illegal projects.

Referring to pending approvals for key Telangana projects like the Sitarama Sagar Lift Irrigation, Sammakka Sagar, the Kaleshwaram third TMC, and Dr BR Ambedkar Warda project, Harish called for greater focus on securing these clearances which were in the last leg.

He urged the State government to proactively defend Section 3 of the Brijesh Kumar Tribunal award in the Supreme Court, which was challenged by Andhra Pradesh.

Drawing attention to water diversion efforts by Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh on the Tungabhadra River, the senior legislator warned of potential harm to Telangana projects, including Kalwakurti, Dindi Lift Irrigation, and Nagarjuna Sagar ayacut.

He reminded that the then BRS government successfully prevented the Andhra Pradesh government from diverting water from the Godavari River in 2017 by opposing them on all platforms.

He stated that the issue of water transcends political differences and urged the State government to convene an all-party meeting to discuss solutions.

“The interests of the State are above politics. Let us work together to secure Telangana’s rightful share of water,” he said, reiterating the BRS’s commitment to supporting any initiative aimed at protecting the State’s water rights.

Harish also questioned the wisdom of appointing Adityanath Das, a former Andhra Pradesh Chief Secretary, as an advisor to the Telangana government, despite him previously advocating for Andhra Pradesh’s water interests and receiving a sentence of three months of imprisonment for misleading the court on illegal construction of Rayalaseema Lift Irrigation Scheme in Andhra Pradesh.