TD Rayalaseema meet trashes YSRC government

Anantapur: The Rayalaseema meeting of the Telugu Desam alleged on Sunday that the YSRC government has not been able to complete even a single piece of work of the Handri Neeva Sujala Shravanti irrigation and drinking water project started by the TD government.

Chief Minister Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy and his government had failed to convince the river waters tribunal about the rights of AP as more than 107 irrigation projects and structures from the state now went into the hands of the Centre, the TD said.

TD leaders from Rayalaseema pointed out the “lapses” of the YSRC government in giving strong counters to Telanana state. They said the YSRC bent before the TS government and its demands during the ongoing dispute over sharing of Krishna water from Srisailam to the drought-hit Rayalaseema region through lift irrigation schemes.

Referring to the “failure” of the irrigation department and the AP government to counter Telangana’s objections before the Krishna River Water Tribunal, TD politburo member Kalava Srinivasulu observed that important irrigation projects and structures in the state went under the control of the Centre. The situation would be worse in future and the backward drought-hit region has to face serious water crisis even for drinking water if no proper allocations are made from the Krishna waters, he said.

The TD Hindupur Lok Sabha area convener B.K. Parthasarathi recalled that the Naidu-led TD government had spent more than Rs 4000 crore on completion of a majority of works in the Handri Neeva Sujala Shravanthi project during 2014-19.

“Many industries were established due to assured water allocation from the HNSS canal and drylands got irrigated in the district. But the present government had not spent even a single paisa on the final stage of works in the project,” he said and alleged that the Chief Minister was in the clutches of the Telangana state government.

Former ZP chairman Gundumala Thippeswamy observed that Jagan Mohan Reddy had forgotten the promise to widen the HNSS main canal from Malyala to Jeedipalli with capacity of 7000 cusecs two and a half years ago.

Leaders from Kurnool, Chittoor, Anantapur and Kadapa districts
who took part in the regional-level meeting resolved to fight against the state’s “lapses” on various fronts, including in its “failure” to mount pressure on the Centre to consider the century-old drought conditions in the region to allocate the assured quota from the Krishna waters.