Harish Rao slams Congress government over failure to protect Telangana’s water rights

BRSLP deputy leader T Harish Rao criticised the Congress government for failing to safeguard Telangana’s interests in Krishna and Godavari river water disputes. He questioned the government’s silence over Andhra Pradesh’s claims and demanded immediate steps to protect Telangana’s water rights.

Hyderabad: BRSLP deputy leader T Harish Rao came down heavily upon the Congress government over its failure to safeguard Telangana’s interests in the Krishna and Godavari river water disputes. Questioning Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy’s silence even as Andhra Pradesh was attempting to gain an advantage in water sharing, he demanded that the government immediately respond and oppose any move to alter water allocations, besides expediting measures to protect Telangana’s rights over Krishna and Godavari river waters.

Addressing a press conference at the Assembly media hall on Monday, Harish Rao said Telangana was facing grave injustice due to the incompetent and irresponsible approach of the Congress government. Questioning why the government had not responded even a month after the minutes of the meeting in Delhi on January 30 between officials of the two States were released, he sought an explanation from the government.

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The former Irrigation Minister pointed out that the meeting allowed Andhra Pradesh to raise objections over water allocations in the Godavari River basin and argued that no specific shares were allotted to individual States, which was contrary to the Bachawat Tribunal award. Telangana was allocated 968 TMCft of water out of about 1,400 TMCft available in the Godavari River, while Andhra Pradesh received 518 TMCft under the Tribunal.

“Did Chief Minister Revanth Reddy and Irrigation Minister N Uttam Kumar Reddy abandon the interests of Telangana altogether or are they prostrating before Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu? What is preventing them from presenting strong arguments opposing the Andhra Pradesh government’s attempt to deprive us of our water rights,” he asked.

Harish Rao said the previous BRS government led by K Chandrashekhar Rao worked to secure Telangana’s rights by obtaining tribunal orders, project approvals and clearances for irrigation works, and accused the present government of neglecting these gains. He blamed the Centre and the Andhra Pradesh government for acting in coordination to press for fresh claims on Godavari River waters and to weaken Telangana’s position.

“Instead of taking a firm stand and thwarting these attempts, the Congress government in Telangana is limiting itself to writing letters,” he added.

The BRS leader questioned Telangana’s participation in the Delhi meeting despite objecting to the agenda and criticised the appointment of officials like Government Advisor Adityanath Das who worked against the interests of Telangana during their stint in the Andhra Pradesh government.

Referring to Krishna River water sharing, he said the State government had failed to protect even the ad-hoc share of 34 per cent and remained silent on issues such as telemetry systems and decisions of river boards. He questioned why the government did not initiate any action despite the KRMB officials using Rs 4.5 crore provided by the Telangana government for installing telemetry to pay salaries.

“It is time that this government wakes up from its slumber and expedites measures to protect Telangana’s interests,” he said.