Congress Govt misleading people on fate of Krishna projects, says Harish Rao

Quoting engineers-in-chief of both Telangana and Andhra Pradesh, Harish Rao said the management of the Krishna projects was handed over to the Krishna River Management Board

Hyderabad: Stating that the State government was misleading people over the fate of the Krishna basin projects including Nagarajuna Sagar and Srisailam, BRS leader and former minister T Harish Rao said on Thursday that the Congress government was in complete disarray.

Quoting engineers-in-chief of both Telangana and Andhra Pradesh, he said the management of the Krishna projects was handed over to the Krishna River Management Board. Hereafter, the State would not be able to draw even a trickle from the projects without the consent of the Board. It would not be able to claim its own share to meeting drinking water needs during emergencies in summer without the approval of the Board.

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Though the officials claimed that no decision was taken on the operation of hydel projects, how could the State operate its power units without water releases given by the Board, he asked.

The State’s engineers and officials would find it difficult to get access to the projects without the permission of the Board hereafter, he said, adding that this amounted to playing into the hands of the Centre and Andhra Pradesh. Wondering how the government had given its consent for handing over the management of the projects to the KRMB without a final decision over water sharing, Harish asked the the Congress government whether its decision over the fate of the projects was a gift for Palamuru, Rangareddy, Nalgonda and Khammam districts and to people elsewhere in the State from where it had received the majority seats.

He pointed out that on one side, Ministers had denied having handed over the irrigation projects to the KRMB. On the other hand, officials representing the State kept according consent to decisions that were not in the interests of the State. In 2021, the Centre issued a gazette and mounted pressure on the State to hand over the projects. But the BRS government did not give up its rights over the projects. Now, it was for the people of the State to understand who could safeguard the interests of the State, Harish Rao said.

The State government had written to the Centre on January 27 sharing the stand of the previous BRS government in opposing the Centre’s directions for handing over the Krishna projects to the Board. However, the decision taken at the KRMB meeting on Thursday was contrary to the spirit of the government’s letter, he said, asking the State government to spell out its genuine stand on the fate of the projects.