Telangana government puts conditions on Krishna River projects handover to KRMB

Hyderabad: The Telangana Congress government on Monday introduced a resolution during the ongoing Assembly Budget Sessions to not hand over the Krishna River basin projects to the Central Government’s Krishna River Management Board (KRMB) unless its conditions are met.

“This house hereby resolves that the Government of Telangana shall not hand over control of common projects to KRMB unless the conditions put forth by the state have been fulfilled,” said Minister for Irrigation Uttam Kumar Reddy, while speaking in the Telangana Legislative Assembly.

He said that the Congress government is committed to preventing water robbery in the state, and accused the previous Bharat Rashtra Samithi government of being inefficient in protecting the interests of the state during its decade-long rule.

’AP drawing 3 TMC of water every day illegally’

“The Andhra Pradesh government, led by YS Jagan Mohan Reddy, took control of the Nagarjuna Sagar dam and released water from the right canal on the Telangana Assembly elections polling date on November 30, 2023, to protect his ally K Chandrashekhar Rao from defeat. Around 3 TMCs of water per day are being illegally drawn by AP. At any cost, we will not hand over the projects to KRMB,” Uttam Kumar Reddy said.

The irrigation minister further said that the Bachawat Tribunal did not recommend any water allocations. “Telangana is entitled to get 70 per cent of the Krishna waters but the AP government is sharing unfairly; 512 TMCs (AP): 299 TMCs (Telangana). On May 5, 2020, the AP government issued GO 203 and through this, a decision was taken to evacuate 3 TMC per day at 797 feet, he said.

‘KCR, Jagan conspired’

Launching a scathing attack on the previous BRS government, Uttam Kumar Reddy alleged that KCR and Jagan met on several occasions and conspired to deny Telangana its rightful share of Krishna waters for their benefit. The irrigation minister even played a video in which Jagan thanked KCR for coming forward to share waters with AP.

Uttam Kumar Reddy also said that Andhra Pradesh drew around 11,150 cusecs through Pothireddypadu Lift in 1987 and in 2005 its capacity was increased to around 44,000 cusecs. Currently, Pothireddypadu capacity is being increased to over 92,592 cusecs.

“If the Rayalaseema Lift is completed, AP will draw 8 TMC per day. KCR wrote a letter to the Centre after the tender procedure was completed. Intentionally, the BRS president did not attend the apex council meeting and supported his ally, Jagan,” Uttam Kumar said.

The irrigation minister said that if KCR attended the meeting and raised objections, the Rayalaseema Lift would have been stopped. He also found fault with the previous BRS government for its inefficiency in completing the Palamuru-Rangareddy Lift project despite starting construction in 2013. “The BRS should tender an apology to the people of Telangana for the raw deal meted out in Krishna River share before participating in a public meeting in Nalgonda on Tuesday,” he demanded.

Assembly unanimously passes resolution on irrigation projects

Legislative Assembly Speaker Gaddam Prasad Kumar announced that the resolution introduced by Minister Uttam Kumar Reddy on irrigation projects was unanimously passed. Several legislators including T Harish Rao, Akbaruddin Owaisi, K Sambasiva Rao, Kadiyam Srihari and others spoke on the resolution.