Telangana to go all out to protect water share
Cabinet opposes illegal construction of Rayalaseema lift scheme and RDS by Andhra Pradesh govt
Hyderabad: The Telangana Cabinet strongly protested against the illegal construction of the Rayalaseema Lift Irrigation Scheme and Rajolibanda (RDS) Right Canal being carried out by the Andhra Pradesh government.
The Cabinet also condemned the Andhra Pradesh government ignoring the orders of the National Green Tribunal (NGT) as well as the Union government in this regard. The Telangana government has already approached the NGT against illegal projects in Andhra Pradesh and filed cases in the Supreme Court.
Further, the State Cabinet has decided to take all measures to safeguard its rights on Krishna River waters in order to protect the interests of farmers as well as agriculture in the State. The State government will submit representations to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Minister for Jal Shakti Gajendra Singh Shekhawat, to stop the illegal construction of projects by the Andhra Pradesh government. It has also decided to expose the exploitation of water by Andhra Pradesh before the people of the nation on various fora as well as the courts and also in the forthcoming monsoon session of the Parliament.
During the meeting chaired by Chief Minister K Chandrashekhar Rao at Pragathi Bhavan here on Saturday, the State Cabinet pointed out that even 17 years after the constitution of the Brijesh Kumar Tribunal and over seven years after Telangana formation, the Telangana government’s requests for setting up the tribunal under Section 3 of the Inter-State River Disputes Act of 1956 to fix the fair share of Krishna River waters has not been fulfilled.
It has pointed out that the Telangana government has withdrawn pending cases in the Supreme Court following an assurance from the Union Minister during the second meeting of the Apex Council on October 6 of 2020 that the Centre would constitute the tribunal immediately, if the cases were withdrawn.
However, the Centre’s inaction in constitution of a new tribunal for resolving the inter-State disputes on Krishna River, has proven to be a great loss for farmers of Telangana. The Cabinet also expressed concern over the Centre’s ignorant attitude towards division of the river waters without taking any initiative or responsibility, rather than extending support for development of a new State like Telangana.
As the illegal construction of projects in Andhra Pradesh cause severe injustice to the irrigation water supply to Palamuru, Nalgonda, Khammam, Warangal and Rangareddy districts apart from drinking water to Hyderabad, the Cabinet has decided to take all possible measures to safeguard the interests of the farmers and secure fair share of Telangana State in Krishna River waters.
Barrage proposed
Accordingly, the State Cabinet has decided to construct a barrage (Jogulamba) at Alampur on Krishna River within the surrounding villages of Gummadam, Gondimalla, Velatoor and Padda Maruru, to divert 60-70 TMC of flood water through a pipeline.
Therefore, the Cabinet has decided to meet the strategic requirements of the Palamuru and Kalwakurthy projects by lifting water into the Yedula Reservoir, which is an integral part of the Palamuru-Rangareddy Lift Irrigation Scheme. It has also decided to construct the left canal of Pulichinthala and provide irrigation to 2 lakh acres in Nalgonda and Suryapet districts.
Irrigation water will be supplied to another 1 lakh acres in Nadigadda area from Sunkesula Reservoir by constructing another lift irrigation scheme. A flood flow canal also will be constructed on River Bhima (tributory of Krishna River) at Kusumarthi village in Krishna mandal, where it enters Telangana State.
The State Cabinet also approved the proposals to increase the storage capacity of Kalwakurthy Lift Irrigation Scheme to 20 tmc. The Cabinet directed the officials to construct another lift irrigation scheme to provide water from Nagarjuna Sagar Tail Pond to irrigate two lakh acres in upper side of the river under Nagarjuna Sagar project. The Irrigation department was instructed to take immediate measures and conduct surveys as well as prepare Detailed Project Reports (DPRs) for these projects.
Considering the availability of river water during the monsoon season, the Cabinet discussed the possibility of operating the hydel power projects under the purview of Telangana State to their maximum capacity. The government is keen use to use the hydel power to lift the water from Kaleshwaram and other lift irrigation schemes and fill the water bodies as well as reduce the power charges for operating the lift irrigation schemes.
Accordingly, the Cabinet approved the proposals to generate 2,375 MW power from the hydel power projects installed on both Krishna and Godavari Rivers, to supply power for Kaleshwaram, Devadula and Alimineti Madhava Reddy Project (Srisailam Left Bank Canal) to lift the water.
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