VIJAYAWADA: Telangana government has filed a fresh case in the Supreme Court, seeking a technical study on the impact of backwaters of Andhra Pradesh’s Polavaram Multi-Purpose Irrigation Project, in the affected states.
This has posed a threat to the crores worth ongoing works at the site of the state’s lifeline project, said state water resources minister Devineni Umamaheswara Rao.
Talking to mediapersons here on Monday, the minister accused Telangana Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao of deliberately creating hurdles to AP’s projects, out of sheer jealousy, at the good response received for AP Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu’s visionary leadership.
The minister urged YSRC president Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy to give an explanation to the people of Andhra Pradesh on why he entered into an illegal, secret deal with KCR, who is hell bent on harming the future of lakhs of farmers in the state.
Mr Rao said that KCR was bringing up old issues on Polavaram on which the Central Water Commission and the AP Water Resources Ministry have already given clarifications to the Apex Court, during hearings in different cases.
The minister attacked the Modi government at the Centre, by saying that the Centre has not yet released dues of Rs 4,341 crores towards Polavaram project. Out of the total Rs 16,205 crores spent on the project so far, AP’s funds came to nearly Rs 11,069 crores.
Mr Uma charged Telangana leaders for impleading the Odisha government’s case and also for filing cases against Polavaram in the National Green Tribunal. This is in spite of the fact that Polavaram is included in Section 93 of Re-organisation Act 2014 as has been approved with total consent from Telangana leaders.
The minister said that Jagan Mohan Reddy was lenient to KCR as he accepted Rs 1,000 crores election funds from the TRS which led to Telangana openly hurting AP’s interests. Till today, 67.2 per cent project works were completed at Polavaram and water will be provided to the farmers by June-July 2019, he added.
