Hyderabad: Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy wants more water from the Krishna river to be diverted to Rayalaseema from the Srisailam project. He made this request to his Telangana counterpart K. Chandrasekhar Rao during their preliminary discussions over river water sharing.
Water sharing and optimum utilisation of river water will be the focus when the two Chief Minis-ters meet in Hyderabad on June 28 and 29.
Mr Reddy reportedly told Mr Rao, “Rayalaseema is in a worse situation than Telangana state. Krishna water should be diverted to Rayalaseema and for this the Telangana state government should be more liberal.”
Mr Reddy wants to use Krishna water from Srisailam for Rayalaseema and making up the shortfall for the region by diverting water from the Godavari to the Krishna.
Sharing of river water between the two states without either state’s interests getting affected will be a crucial point in the discussions.
Both Chief Ministers are of the view that maximum utilisation of the Godavari and Krishna waters must be made by both states. The undivided state of AP was allotted 1480 tmc ft (thousand million cubic feet) of Godavari water and 811 tmc of Krishna water by the river tribunal. If necessary, both state governments will construct some projects jointly for the utilisation of river water.
In the preliminary discussions, Mr Reddy told Mr Rao: “I don’t know why you changed the Pranahitha-Chevella project proposed by his father and former chief minister Y.S. Rajasekhar Reddy to Kaleshwaram. Prana-hitha-Chevella is the best project for the utilisation of Godavari water.”
Sources said that Mr Rao was impressed by Mr Reddy’s knowledge of irrigation issues.
As the water flow in the Krishna is not dependable as both Telangana and AP are downstream riparian states, the Chief Ministers want to divert water from the Godavari to the Krishna.
Irrigation officials of both states are preparing notes according to their state’s point of view on the construction of new projects for optimum utilisation of the waters of the Godavari and Krishna rivers, the expense invol-ved, and how to mobilise the funds. In the meeting, both Chief Ministers are expected to discuss these projects and come to an understanding. Both will have to compromise and change their earlier views.
In the past, Mr Reddy has opposed the Kaleshw-aram project though he attended its inauguration recently. Mr Rao has oppo-sed the Nagarjunasagar Tail Pond project proposed by the former AP Chief Minister Y.S. Rajas-ekhar Reddy. His son, the new AP Chief Minister, is likely to propose that this project be taken up.
The AP Chief Minister also asked Mr Rao to remove the hurdles for the Pulichintala project, saying it was the dream project of his father. Due to controversy between AP and Telangana, the AP government is not able to make full use of this irrigation project.
The Pulichintala project is vital for farmers in the Krishna delta. Its storage capacity is 45.77 tmc ft and at present the storage is in single-digit figures. The bone of contention between the two states is maintaining the water level in this project. AP also has to pay for the relief and rehabilitation package for about 13 villages facing threat of submergence in Nalgonda district. This will require an estimated Rs 100 crore.
