AP faces rough weather over Pattiseema LIS

Telangana demolishes AP's contention that the lift irrigation scheme is a temporary project

Hyderabad: The Andhra Pradesh government found itself in hot waters on Friday when Ghanshyam Jha, an expert witness of Telangana on engineering aspects, demolished the neighbouring State’s argument that Pattiseema Lift Irrigation Scheme was a temporary project.

Quoting Lok Sabha question 545 in 2015 wherein Pattiseema was mentioned as not part of Polavaram and pointing out that the actual drawals made by Andhra Pradesh through Pattiseema was more than 100 TMC per annum, Jha also expressed apprehension that with Andhra Pradesh making huge investments in the project, it was highly unlikely that it would be discontinued.

Jha was speaking during cross examination taken up by the Krishna Water Disputes Tribunal-II (KWDT-II) headed by the Chairman Justice Brijesh Kumar. Andhra Pradesh’s senior counsel Venkataramani cross-examined Jha on aspects pertaining to contents of the affidavit on Godavari river diversion from Polavaram Project and Pattiseema Lift Irrigation Scheme.

In a bid to prove that Pattiseema Lift Irrigation Scheme was a temporary scheme, Andhra Pradesh, while drawing the attention of Jha to various documents and AP Chief Minister’s letter to the Central government in September, 2015, said Pattiseema was a temporary measure and that it will be non-functional once the Polavaram project materialises.

Jha, however, countered this contention with his arguments. When AP’s counsel again mentioned GO 1 of AP pertaining to drawal of water from Godavari, the Tribunal Chairman intervened and said clarity was missing in both the letter and GO. To further questions, Jha stood firm on his stand and explained that the facts clearly revealed that Andhra Pradesh had made huge investments and the fact that it was drawing more than 100 TMC established his apprehension that this project will continue.

He also asserted that a project cannot be taken up without approvals just because Polavaram project was delayed. At this point, the tribunal chairman intervened and asked the Andhra Pradesh counsel not to pose questions to the witness based only on questions and replies that were earlier put before AP witnesses. Senior advocates V Ravinder Rao and Nikhil Swami took part on behalf of Telangana State.

The tribunal resumed proceedings on Wednesday after a gap of one-and-a-half years due to the resignation of a Judge followed by Covid-19 pandemic, and cross examined Jha on engineering aspects. The proceedings that continued till Friday were posted for April 28 to 30.

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