Andhra Pradesh asked to stop Pothireddypadu, RLIS works

The KRMB member Harikesh Meena wrote a letter to the Andhra Pradesh government on Monday following a complaint lodged by the Telangana Irrigation department Engineer-in-Chief C Muralidhar in this regard.

Hyderabad: The Krishna River Management Board (KRMB) on Monday directed the Andhra Pradesh government not to take up construction works of Rayalaseema Lift Irrigation Scheme (RLIS) as well as upgradation works of Pothireddypadu Head Regulator and Banakacharla Regulator Complex without submitting the requisite Detailed Project Reports (DPR) to the Board and the Central Water Commission (CWC). It also mandated necessary approvals from the Apex Council.

The KRMB member Harikesh Meena wrote a letter to the Andhra Pradesh government on Monday following a complaint lodged by the Telangana Irrigation department Engineer-in-Chief C Muralidhar in this regard.

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In his letter to the Board in December 2020, Muralidhar said that the Andhra Pradesh government issued an order for taking up construction of Rayalaseema Pumping System to draw three TMC of water per day from above 797 ft of Srisailam reservoir and upgradation of Pothireddypadu Head Regulator and Banakacharla Regulator complex to draw 800 cusecs and related works.

The AP government gave necessary administrative approvals sanctioning Rs.6,829.15 crore for taking up these works and also called for the tenders.

This is for second time that the Telangana government brought the issue to the notice of the KRMB and Central government, requesting to restrain Andhra Pradesh from going ahead with the works as the project was taken up contrary to the provision of Andhra Pradesh Reorganization Act-2014.

Following an earlier complaint from the Telangana government, the KRMB in its letter dated May 20 last year, asked the Andhra Pradesh government not to go ahead with the projects as per the directions of the Ministry of Jal Shakti (MoJS).

The NGT Southern Bench, Chennai also held that Andhra Pradesh was not entitled to proceed with the projects and restrained from proceeding further without getting environmental clearance. It has also held that the matter has to be considered by the KRMB after evaluating the DPR to be produced before it as directed by the MoJS as per provisions of Andhra Pradesh Reorganization Act.

Under these circumstances, the Telangana government also urged the KRMB to send a fact finding committee to ascertain the factual position on the ground.

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