Andhra Pradesh: KRMB Chief Agrees to Set Up Office in Vijayawada

Vijayawada: A delegation of leaders led by AP water users associations federation president Alla Venkata Gopala Krishna Rao on Wednesday called on the Krishna river management board (KRMB) chairman, Atul Jain, in Hyderabad and sought his intervention to set up the KRMB office in Vijayawada and submitted a representation on the issue.

The KRMB chairman was learnt to have responded positively to the request. Later, the delegation met Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu and minister for water resources N. Rama Naidu in Vijayawada on the same issue and sought their support.

Earlier, Rao told media that as the KRMB was set up as per AP Reorganisation Act, 2014 for monitoring the Krishna water usage by both AP and TG, there was a proposal to set up the office of KRMB in Vijayawada and some buildings were also examined to accommodate the office in Ibrahimpatnam in Vijayawada in January, 2018.

Subsequently, in December, 2020, then YSR Congress government proposed to KRMB that its office should be set up in Visakhapatnam, he said and called it as an unfortunate move on the part of then government. He asked the YSR Congress government as to how it could propose to set up the KRMB office in Visakhapatnam as part of three capitals despite Vijayawada having all facilities like air, rail and road connectivity.

When contacted, Rao said, “We met the KRMB chairman Atul Jain and sought his intervention to set up the KRMB office in Vijayawada and he responded positively. We also requested AP CM and minister for water resources on the same issue and got a positive response from them. We will send our representation to the Union ministry of Jal Shakti for its support.”