Harish Spreading Lies, State Filed Case in SC on Banakacharla: Uttam

HYDERABAD: Irrigation Minister N. Uttam Kumar Reddy on Tuesday rejected BRS leader T. Harish Rao’s allegations against the state government on Andhra Pradesh’s Polavaram-(Banakacharla) Nallamalasagar project saying that Telangana is “aggressively fighting” to stop AP from going ahead with the project.

Reacting to Harish Rao’s allegations of neglect by the state government on Polavaram-Nallamalasagar project, Uttam Kumar Reddy said the Telangana government filed a writ petition in the Supreme Court earlier this month and the case has been listed for hearing on January 5.

“This shows that the Telangana government is aggressively fighting against the Polavaram-Banakacharla project. Harish Rao’s allegations are completely false,” Uttam Kumar Reddy said.

Uttam Kumar Reddy asserted that the Ministry of Jal Shakti has not only withheld permission for construction of the Polavaram-Banakacherla link project but also refused to allow the Andhra Pradesh government to even prepare the Detailed Project Report. The Ministry explicitly communicated to the Andhra Pradesh government that preparation of the DPR cannot proceed without in-principle approval. “As of now, no such in-principle consent has been granted for the Pre-Feasibility Report (PFR) of the Polavaram-Banakacherla link project," Uttam Kumar Reddy said.

Advising Harish Rao to “stop the tirade of lies,” Uttam Kumar Reddy said the BRS leader and his party have been levelling baseless allegations against on various projects. The minister said it is not just this particular issues, the BRS is spreading blatant lies on irrigation issues to cover up its own failures to complete many pending projects including Palamuru Ranga Reddy Lift Irrigation Scheme and how it signed away Telangana’s water rights by agreeing to allow AP to use 512 tmc of Krishna water and restricting our state’s rights to just 299 tmc only, he said.

This the BRS did, not just for one year but till the Krishna Water Disputes Tribunal-II makes it final allocation,” he said. Now, AP is using this as an excuse to claim rights over 512 tmc. It is the Congress government that insisted before KWDT-II that Telangana must get 555 tmc from Krishna under 75 per cent dependability of flows, and 763 tmc under 65 per cent dependability of flows, the minister said.