GRMB proposes to supervise Pedda Vagu project on pilot basis

Hyderabad: With the gazette notification on projects’ control issued by the Union Jal Shakti Ministry coming into force on October 14, the Godavari River Management Board (GRMB) has proposed to supervise the operations of Pedda Vagu project on Godavari on a pilot basis. The Telangana government has already requested the Centre to postpone implementation of […]

Hyderabad: With the gazette notification on projects’ control issued by the Union Jal Shakti Ministry coming into force on October 14, the Godavari River Management Board (GRMB) has proposed to supervise the operations of Pedda Vagu project on Godavari on a pilot basis. The Telangana government has already requested the Centre to postpone implementation of the gazette notification, and irrigation officials have made it clear that they would take necessary action only after consulting the State government.

The GRMB meeting chaired by its chairman J Chandrashekhar Iyer at Jala Soudha here on Monday said the officials of both Telangana and Andhra Pradesh would continue to handle the operations in their respective jurisdictions, while the Board would only monitor the overall operations. The officials of both the States have asked the Board to give clarity on the seed money to be deposited for expenditure towards the irrigation projects on Godavari.

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Speaking to mediapersons after the meeting, Telangana Principal Secretary for Irrigation Rajat Kumar said the gazette notification does not mention the Centre taking over the irrigation projects and the river management boards are restricted to monitoring the operations. He stated that the irrigation projects would go under the purview of the Board only if the State government hands them over and a decision on handing over Pedda Vagu project will be taken after consulting the State government. About 2,000 acres of ayacut in Telangana and 13,000 acres of ayacut in Andhra Pradesh are under the purview of Pedda Vagu project.

“It is not possible to hand over all the projects on Godavari river to the Board as requested by the Andhra Pradesh government. There are many issues related to the projects which must be addressed before taking further steps. Chief Minister K Chandrashekhar Rao has already urged the Centre to give more time in this regard. Only the Pedda Vagu project will be brought under the purview of the GRMB after getting the State government’s approval,” Rajat Kumar said.

Not surprisingly, the Andhra Pradesh government continued with the double standards by demanding that the Board take over all the irrigation projects of Telangana on Godavari River under its purview. They also wanted the Krishna River Management Board (KRMB) to take over all the joint irrigation projects on Krishna River including Jurala project as well as the pump houses generating power at Srisailam project, under its purview. However, the AP officials rejected Telangana’s demand to hand over Sileru Hydel Power project to the Board.

Further, Telangana government rubbished the arguments of Andhra Pradesh that it was diverting Godavari River water to fill its tanks and other water bodies during the lean period denying drinking water to Andhra Pradesh. The Andhra Pradesh authorities also alleged that Telangana was releasing water from Srisailam project in the name of hydel power generation.