Andhra Pradesh slams Telangana's charges of illegal construction of projects
VIJAYAWADA: Minister for water resources P. Anil Kumar Yadav has refuted allegations of Telangana state that Andhra Pradesh was constructing irrigation projects illegally. He claimed that Andhra Pradesh was using was allocated for the projects. He alleged that Telangana was constructing irrigation projects without any permissions and this would damage water allocations to Andhra Pradesh.
Yadav clarified that the construction of irrigation projects in the State are subject to water allocations by tribunals and ridiculed the objections of Telangana State.
Speaking to the media here on Monday, he alleged that Telangana state had been constructing new projects without any permission and has increased the capacity of Kalwakurthy and Nettempadu projects.
Asserting that the state government is not going beyond its allocations, the minister said that for the Rayalaseema Lift Irrigation Project, the state cannot draw the allocated water of 44,000 cusecs from Srisailam through Pothireddypadu if the level drops below 848 feet. He further said that to provide water for Rayalaseema and Nellore districts, water could be drawn only at 881 ft level, which could suffice for 15-20 days during floods. He wanted to know from where else could Telangana state can withdraw over six thousand million cubic feet (tmc ft) of water, even when the water level is below 800 ft besides taking up projects like Palamuru-Ranga Reddy Lift Irrigation Project.
Yadav questioned on what basis it would be wrong for Andhra Pradesh to construct lift irrigation just to ease the process of withdrawing the allocated share of water, while the same is being done by Telangana state. The minister said that the Rajolibanda project has an allocation of 4 tmc ft and Chief Minister Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy will go to any extent to protect the interests of the state. Telangana state officials are falsely accusing the State, despite all the projects being administered as per allocations, he added.
The minister said that the Chief Minister wanted the two states to be on friendly terms and took a step forward in that regard. He claimed that all these projects have been there for decades and the State government is only trying to increase their capacity. The minister stated that the Vamsadhara Tribunal has given clearance to construct the Neredi project and its construction would start soon.
