Telangana to oppose inter-linking of rivers without finalising water allocations

Hyderabad: Lambasting the BJP-led Central government for announcing inter-linking of rivers without taking the States into confidence, Finance Minister T Harish Rao on Monday demanded that the Centre immediately finalise the river water allocations to Telangana State and permit the proposed projects on Godavari River. Unless the water needs of Telangana are met, the State […]

Hyderabad: Lambasting the BJP-led Central government for announcing inter-linking of rivers without taking the States into confidence, Finance Minister T Harish Rao on Monday demanded that the Centre immediately finalise the river water allocations to Telangana State and permit the proposed projects on Godavari River. Unless the water needs of Telangana are met, the State government will not allow inter-linking of Godavari and Krishna Rivers proposed under the union Budget 2022-23 to divert water further to Penna and then to Cauvery River.

“The Centre says there is adequate water to divert it from Godavari all the way to Cauvery, but does not permit the projects proposed by us on Godavari River. What sort of rule did the Centre adopt?” he questioned. He pointed out that the Centre can take up inter-linking of rivers only when there is excess water. The BJP State leaders were also trying to obstruct the Telangana projects by writing letters to the Centre, he added.

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Participating in a discussion on the budget demands for the Irrigation department in the Assembly here, Harish Rao said as per Section 3, it is the responsibility of the Centre to resolve the water sharing disputes and allocate river water to the newly formed State or refer the same to a tribunal. However, the Centre did not respond to the repeated requests from the State forcing the latter to approach the Supreme Court. “Recently, union Jal Shakti Minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat asked us to withdraw the case with a promise to resolve the issue immediately, “But after nearly six months, there has been no response,” he lamented.

He reminded that the union government also denied national project status to the irrigation projects in Telangana which was assured under Andhra Pradesh Reorganisation Act. “Unable to digest the realities, the Opposition parties are resorting to mudslinging. Both the Congress and the BJP are not ready to accept the harsh reality that Telangana is far ahead of the States ruled by them,” he added.

The Minister slammed the Congress leaders for criticising the TRS government for redesigning the irrigation projects. He held them responsible for the injustice caused to Telangana in erstwhile Andhra Pradesh due to their silence. Despite having allocation of 1300 TMCft from Rivers Godavari and Krishna, the rulers of erstwhile Andhra Pradesh did not even utilise 400 TMCft for Telangana. He reminded that in 2009, the then Congress government released mobilisation advances amounting to Rs 1,559 crore for construction of various projects, without taking up any works. Further, the then Congress government also enhanced the construction cost of Pranahitha-Chevella project from 17,875 crore to Rs 40,300 crore within a span of 19 months, without any progress of works.

In response to the Congress legislators on shifting and redesigning of projects launched by the previous Congress government, Harish Rao explained that the Kaleshwaram Lift Irrigation Scheme was redesigned and constructed based on the recommendations of the Central Water Commission which has suggested for re-engineering the Thammidihatti project. The Commission observed that water availability at Thammidihatti was very low and the government must construct artificial reservoirs or increase the capacity of existing tanks to meet the target of 16 lakh acres.

“Construction of Rajiv Sagar and Indira Sagar projects in erstwhile Khammam district would have been detrimental to our interests and would have led to inter-State disputes with Andhra Pradesh, besides involving environmental issues threatening Kinnerasani Reserve Forest. Hence, we took up construction of Sitarama Sagar project which would also increase the ayacut and supply irrigation water to remote areas of erstwhile Khammam district,” he added.

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