AP police stop BRS delegation from visiting Pothireddypadu project

Andhra Pradesh police stopped a BRS delegation led by former Minister S Niranjan Reddy from visiting the Pothireddypadu head regulator. Niranjan alleged that AP was diverting Krishna water while the Telangana government was failing to safeguard farmers’ interests.

Hyderabad: Tensions flared on Wednesday after Andhra Pradesh police stopped a BRS delegation led by former Minister and senior BRS leader S Niranjan Reddy from visiting the Pothireddypadu head regulator to assess water diversion from the Krishna River. The BRS leaders condemned the Andhra Pradesh police for stopping them, asserting that they were visiting the project only to expose the Congress government’s failure, but not to stage protests or disturb law and order.

Niranjan Reddy and other BRS leaders were stopped at the Jupadu Bunglow National Highway in Nandyal district while travelling in a convoy. Police told him that he did not have permission to proceed to Pothireddypadu. He rejected a suggestion by a DSP to discuss the issue, stating that he had come to inspect a project linked to Telangana farmers.

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Speaking to the media on the occasion, Niranjan Reddy slammed the Congress government in Telangana over its failure to safeguard the State’s water interests. He said Andhra Pradesh was drawing four to five TMCft of Krishna River water per day through the Pothireddypadu project. However, he said the Congress government was neither objecting to it nor using its pump houses of the Kalwakurthy Lift Irrigation Scheme to lift water despite its availability at the required level.

He said the El Nino effect was common to both Telangana and Andhra Pradesh and questioned why Andhra Pradesh could provide water to its farmers while Telangana was denying the same and letting them suffer. He questioned the responsibility of local MLAs and ministers in protecting the region’s water interests.

The former Minister said the 162-km canal had not received water for a stretch of 102 km and alleged that facts were being withheld from the public. He said inflows from the Jurala project into the Srisailam project were substantial and there was no immediate shortage for the Jurala ayacut and lift schemes, though the Telangana government was depriving irrigation water to its farmers.

He said that during the BRS regime, farmers were supplied 40 TMCft even when Srisailam had 100 TMCft of water.