Andhra Pradesh, Telangana politicos in blame game amid water crisis

Hyderabad: At a time when both Telangana state and AP are reeling under acute shortage of water due to insignificant inflows into the Krishna, politicians both in the ruling party and in the Opposition are holding each other responsible for the crisis-like situation.

The dispute over distribution of Krishna waters between the two states is with the Krishna Waters Disputes Tribunal as well as the Supreme Court and arguments have been going on for two years. Unless there is clarity on the issue, including the question of taking up irrigation projects based on surplus waters, the matter will become fodder for a political fight.

A year ago, TS and AP had reached an agreement before the Central water resources ministry that till a final decision is reached, both states would share 811 tmc feet of assured water in the Krishna in a ration of 512 and 299 tmc ft. However, there was no significant inflow into the Krishna not only in the Telugu states but even in Karnataka and Maharashtra this year.

Against this background, YSRC president Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy has decided to sit on a three-day protest fast in Kurnool to pro-test the AP government’s failure to prevent the Telangana state government from building the Palamuru Ranga reddy and Dindi projects and using surplus waters of the Srisailam dam.
He said the water at Srisailam this year had touched its lowest levels, and asked the AP government to raise water to 854 feet to supply Rayalaseema while Telangana draws more water for its projects.

Even Congress leaders Dr S. Sailajanath and Dr N. Tulasi Reddy on Satur-day objected to the projects being taken up by the TS government and criticised the AP government for not acting to stall them. Reacting to Mr Reddy’s fast, Telangana irrigation minister T. Harish Rao said in Mahbubnagar on Saturday that there was no question of stopping the two new projects. They were approved by the previous Congress governments, he said.

He also warned AP leaders against creating controversies as otherwise the TS government would move against projects taken up by the AP government like Handri Neeva and Galeru Nagari which also use surplus water.

He said like his father late Y.S. Rajasekhar Reddy, Mr Jagan Mohan Reddy is trying to divert Krishna waters to Rayalaseema. Mr Harish Rao noted that the AP government had filed some objections with the Krishna tribunal and some farmers were trying to file petitions in the Supreme Court.

As per the AP Reorgani-sation Act, the Krishna River Management Board is entitled to approve new projects taken up after the state bifurcation and adjudicate on disputes between the two states.

The AP government has already filed a complaint with KRMB against the Palamuru-Ranga Reddy and Dindi projects. The Telangana state government has also lodged a few complaints on diversion of Godavari water to the Krishna through the Pattiseema project.

Elsewhere, TD leaders including some legislators began blaming the BJP for the Centre’s rejection of special category status to AP. They said the BJP would face the same fate as the Congress in AP. Both the YSRC and the Congress, on the other hand, bla-med the TD-BJP combine.

In a related development, actor and Jana Sena president Pawan Kalyan appealed to both the TD and the YSRC to fight unitedly to secure special status for AP. He appealed to the BJP not to delay it. He said the people were agitated and a positive decision should be taken before the people begin to press for fulfilment of an election-time promise.