Top priority for rivers: Chandrababu Naidu

Vijayawada: The AP government will give top priority to river conservation, AP Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu said on Wednesday at the ‘Rally for Rivers’ event being spearheaded by Isha Foundation chief Jaggi Vasudev. “AP wants to stand as a role model for other states in implementation of the river revitalization policy which is proposed by the Sadhguru, he said.

The Sadhguru said one can could think of proper utilisation of water if sufficient amount of water was available. He called on the public to focus on protecting rivers. He said the draft policy to revive water bodies in 16 states was being drawn up, and sought suggestions from the people. The draft would be submitted to the Centre by October 2.

‘Waterman’ Rajendra Singh, who participated in the rally, said governments should focus on reviving groundwater. He suggested that the Sadhguru include this is in the draft policy.

Mr Naidu said the state government had linked Godavari and Krishna rivers which was showing positive results in the Krishna delta. He said the government was ready to spend to protect rivers.

He said AP had almost two crore acres of cultivated land and asked farmers to concentrate in horticulture crops in one crore acres and focus on micro irrigation in the rest o the land.

YSRC points to CM house

YSRC spokesperson Vell-ampalli Srinivas alleged that Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu was cheating the public by claiming to protect rivers while disrespecting river conservation laws.

Referring to Mr Naidu’s statement that AP would be developed as a role model for the protection of rivers, Mr Srinivas said that the CM had no right to speak about river connectivity while residing in an illegal construction on the banks of the Krishna River.

Mr Srinivas, Vijayawada city president of the YSRC, told the media that though the TD was an ally of the NDA, it could not do anything when the Karnataka government increased the height of the Almatti dam on the Krishna river in 2004

The increase of the height of the Almatti dam was affecting the Krishna river, he said. He said that earlier, farmers in the Krishna delta could cultivate two crops a year; but under Mr Naidu’s governance, they were being forced to manage with just a single crop.

Mr Srinivas demanded a White Paper containing details about the amount of money spent by the current government on the Polavaram, Handri Neeva, Galeru, and Nagari Projects, and the amount of money spent by the erstwhile government of Y.S. Rajasekhar Reddy in undivided AP.

He alleged that Mr Naidu had received gifts in exchange for the allocation of project works to fledgeling companies. In this backdrop, he said, it was surprising to see Mr Naidu speaking of protecting rivers.

He called the Intintiki Telugu Desam programme of the ruling party a farce and claimed that the public was questioning TD leaders and asking them what they had done for the people. He added that the TD government had not fulfilled even a single one of its commitments.