Telangana, AP Ask Godavari River Board To Trim Its Expenditure Proposals

Hyderabad: Telangana and Andhra Pradesh on Friday asked the Godavari River Management Board to revise its budget requirements for the coming financial year saying that the Rs 6 crore sought for operation costs was more than what it would require.

The board, at its 15th meeting on Friday, asked the two states to provide Rs 8 crore each but both Telangana state and AP disagreed with the proposal. It is learnt that the Board was told that the last three years the board’s operating costs were around Rs 8 crore a year and that should be the figure for the coming year too. The board is expected to get back to the two states with revised proposals soon, it is learnt.

At the meeting, the two states also refused to deploy more staff, including engineers to the board saying that those deputed so far would suffice for now. Also discussed was a proposal by the board which sought funds for setting up telemetry equipment on the river to measure water flows.

Instead of spending money on this, the two states are learnt to have suggested to the board that it sync its systems with those of the National Highways Authority of India which has already set up an extensive telemetry system on the river at various points to monitor river flows over various bridges of the national highways.