BRS Killed TG’s River Water Interests: CM Revanth

Hyderabad: Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy on Sunday said no regime, even in undivided Andhra Pradesh, had inflicted greater damage on Telangana’s river water interests than that of BRS president and former chief minister K. Chandrashekar Rao.

Revanth Reddy expressed his readiness to hold a special Assembly session as early as on January 2 to debate the utilisation of Godavari and Krishna river waters by the Congress and BRS regimes, if Rao would attend the session.

“I am not daring him to attend the Assembly, just asking him to participate in the debate and offer valuable suggestion if any,” the Chief Minister said, adding that he would make sure the ruling party legislators treated his predecessor with the utmost respect.

Saying the damage done to the state was multi-fold, the Chief Minister, in an informal chat with mediapersons at his residence, said Rao had agreed for a smaller share of 34 per cent of Krishna waters, completely neglected pending irrigation projects in the river basin for a decade and, more dangerously, showed the way for Andhra Pradesh to loot waters from both the Godavari and the Krishna and thereby depriving Telangana of its due share.

On the contrary, Revanth Reddy said, the Congress government had stepped up the utilisation of the Krishna waters, had demanded a 71 per cent share of water in the river, released funds for expediting pending projects in Palamuru and more importantly forced the Centre through the Supreme Court to finalise the river water sharing ratio within a year.

Revanth Reddy was reacting to the BRS supremo’s call earlier in the day for an agitation against injustice meted out to Palamuru region and alleged neglect of irrigation projects by the Congress.

“The BRS streak of being drubbed in electoral politics has continued, the latest being the gram panchayat election and this forced KCR to step out of his farm house,” Reddy said, of the former chief minister’s press conference. “The fear of his nephew Harish Rao sabotaging the party might also force the old man to take up some token agitations,” he added. Perhaps Prime Minister Modi’s assurance to protect him in corruption cases also gave Rao some strength, Revanth Reddy quipped.

On AP implementing several projects on the two rivers, Revanth Reddy said: “KCR, Chandrababu Naidu and Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy ganged up to benefit a contractor by facilitating lift irrigation projects in AP at the cost of Telangana. KCR changed the offtake point of Jurala to the a point downstream of the Krishna where the cost to lift water will be higher. It will benefit the contractor who will eventually pay hefty commissions to KCR.”

Revanth Reddy dared Rao to name a single project started by the BRS government in the Palamuru region in the last 10 years. “I will take him to projects which our government put on the fast track and show him their progress,” he said.

The Chief Minister said AP had never fallen short of utilising its 66 per cent share in Krishna water in contrast to Telangana failing to utilise its share of 34 per cent during the BRS government tenure. According to official statistics, AP’s withdrawals exceeded the permitted 529 tmc ft of water for five out of last six years, while Telangana never utilised its share of 220 tmc ft, Reddy said adding that the state drew the maximum water of 286 tmc ft only after the Congress came to power.

Dismissing the allegations of neglect of agriculture, the Chief Minister said the state had recorded highest paddy production without using the Kaleshwaram scheme. “The state is procuring the largest quantity of paddy in the country from farmers,” Revanth Reddy noted.