Chandrababu Naidu okays water to Telangana

Hyderabad: Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu has approved the supply of 3 TMC feet of water from the Krishna river to Telangana for drinking purpose.

The Telangana government had requested the chairman of the Krishna River Board A.B. Pandyan to order the supply. But with the state raising some objection to the supply of drinking water to Andhra Pradesh earlier, it was expected that AP would now retaliate.

Mr Naidu, however, has asked irrigation officials not to raise any objection to the supply in the forthcoming Krishna River Board meeting, where the matter is to be discussed.

Quoting Mr Naidu, an official said the Telugu Desam has a responsibility to protect the interests of the Telugu people in both the states. So the Andhra Pradesh government cannot possibly emulate the example of Telangana.

“Drinking water is a priority for any state and Andhra Pradesh may not object to it,” said Aditya Nath Das, principal secretary, irrigation, Andhra Pradesh.  

The Telangana government had asked for the supply of water the from Alimineti Madhava Reddy Irrigation project. But though the project is located in Telan-gana, the approval of Andhra Pradesh is needed for the supply.

The Krishna River Board meeting is expected to be held in Delhi on July 9 or 10, Mr Das said. Though Mr Pandyan has called for a full-fledged meeting, the names of members are yet to be finalised.

Andhra Pradesh has nominated Mr Das and chief engineer M. Venkateswar Rao while Telangana is yet to name its members.