Harish Rao tells Karnataka to ignore Andhra Pradesh objections

Hyderabad: The TS government has requested Karnataka to ignore AP’s objection to the Rajolibanda Diversion Scheme (RDS) works and complete it at the earliest.

Irrigation minister T. Harish Rao called up his Karnataka counterpart M.B. Patil in this regard on Friday and informed him that AP’s objections were uncalled for.

Mr Rao told Mr Patil that the Karnataka government should continue the works, ensuring waters allocated to TS as per the Bachawat Award. Mr Patil reportedly promised to consider the TS request.

At present, canal repair and other works are going on, on the Karnataka side and it would be taken up in TS too. Mr Rao asked Mr Patil to ignore the requests of Kurnool officials. The governments of AP and TS are at loggerheads over RDS works.

Meanwhile, Mr Rao, as promised, sanctioned Rs 17 crore compensation for the displaced farmers and others under Dindi Balancing Reservoir project in Mahbubnagar and Nalgonda districts. Orders in this regard have been issued by the irrigation department.