CM Chandrashekar Rao urges Centre to amend, put off river water gazette
HYDERABAD: Chief Minister K. Chandrashekar Rao on Saturday urged the Centre to amend the gazette notification issued by the Union ministry of Jal Shakti and postpone its implementation from October 14, according to official sources.
Rao met Union Jal Shakti minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat in Delhi in this regard. He was accompanied by MLAs representing the erstwhile Mahbubnagar district — C. Laxma Reddy, S. Rajender Reddy and Ala Venkateshwar Reddy.
The Chief Minister's Office (CMO) usually issues press releases whenever the Chief Minister meets Union ministers in Delhi and submits representations on various issues. But on Saturday, the CMO did not issue any press release on Rao’s meeting with Shekhawat. It just released pictures of the meeting.
Official sources said in his 40-minute-long meeting with Shekhawat, the Chief Minister requested him to amend the gazette notification issued on July 16 bringing all irrigation projects on Krishna and Godavari under respective River Management Boards (GRMB and KRMB).
Rao urged Shekhawat to bring only the joint irrigation projects of Telangana state and Andhra Pradesh such as Srisailam, Nagarjunasagar etc under the control of respective Boards. He urged him to exclude all other irrigation projects from the gazette, which fall only in the jurisdiction of respective states and are managed independently by the state governments.
The CM brought to Shekhawat’s notice that bringing such independent projects under the Centre's control would not serve any purpose but also complicate things for the respective state governments during operation and maintenance.
The Chief Minister also urged Shekhawat to allow boards to take control of the projects only after the water share of both the states was finalised in Krishna and Godavari. Sources said the Chief Minister also took up water-sharing disputes between Telangana and AP. He is said to have submitted a representation to Shekhawat on five issues pertaining to the irrigation department and also sought him to intervene to stop the ongoing works of Rayalaseema Lift Irrigation Scheme (RLIS) in AP. He told him that RLIS was detrimental to the erstwhile Mahbubnagar district.
He urged Shekhawat to issue final approvals for the Palamuru-Ranga Reddy Lift Irrigation Scheme, apart from making necessary water allocations in Krishna for this project.
