KRMB considers TS objection, instructs AP govt to stop construction

The Krishna River Management Board has instructed the Andhra Pradesh government not to take up the construction of the proposed Rayalaseema Lift Irrigation Scheme till a Detailed Project Report is submitted and appraised by the board and Central Water Commission.

Hyderabad: The Krishna River Management Board (KRMB), taking note of the Telangana State government’s letter to it, has instructed the Andhra Pradesh (AP) government not to take up the construction of the proposed Rayalaseema Lift Irrigation Scheme (RLIS) till a Detailed Project Report (DPR) is submitted and appraised by the board and Central Water Commission (CWC) and sanctioned by the Apex Council as per the provisions of APRA-2014.

In a letter to the Secretary, Water Resources Department, Andhra Pradesh, KRMB member H K Meena said the NGT, while delivering an order, had observed: “So under such circumstances, we feel that there is no necessity at this stage to go into an investigation in this matter and the board, on the basis of the complaint made by the Telangana government in this regard, are at liberty to go into the question and if it is found that there is any violation of direction of this tribunal in the proceedings with the matter on the basis of the investigation conducted by them independently, they are at liberty to take appropriate action against the fourth respondent (AP government) in accordance with the law apart from the applicant to approach this tribunal at that stage.”

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The NGT further directed the board to take appropriate decisions in the matter. In order to implement the directions of NGT, the KRMB constituted a team to visit the site of the proposed RLIS through an order dated February 26, 2021. The team was to visit the project site to find out if there was any violation of directions of NGT’s proceedings with the matter.

Accordingly, the team leader and member of KRMB had requested the AP government several times to nominate a nodal officer and facilitate the visit of the team to the project site. However, the AP government has so far not facilitated the visit of the team to the project site citing various reasons.

Meanwhile, Special Chief Secretary, Telangana government, in a letter dated June 21, 2021, addressed to Chairman, KRMB, had said that it was reliably learnt that AP was proceeding briskly with the construction of the work in the above project in utter violation of the order of the NGT and in support thereof, has enclosed pictures.

Since the visit of the team to the project site has so far not been facilitated by AP government, the KRMB could not ascertain if there are any violations of the directions of the NGT order in the matter.

Under the circumstances, the AP government was directed not to take up the construction of the above proposed project unless the DPR of the project is submitted and appraised by KRMB/CWC and sanctioned by the Apex Council as per the provisions of APRA-2014.

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