Protests against Brijesh Tribunal Award

Vijayawada/Guntur: The Telugu Desam reacted swiftly on Saturday to the injustice done to the State in final verdict of the Justice Brijesh Kumar Tribunal on sharing of Krishna waters among Maharashtra, Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh. The TD leaders, activists and the scores of farmers squatted on the road at Gollapudi on the outskirts of the city blocking the Hyderabad-Vijayawada national highway raising slogans against the Tribunal Award.

The TD leaders blamed the State government for its total failure in protecting the interests of the State. They said the state government could not present convincing arguments before the Tribunal.

The TD Krishna district president and Mylavaram legislator, Devineni Umamaheswara Rao, pointed an accusing finger at former chief minister late Y S Rajasekhar Reddy and his successors, K Rosaiah and N Kirankumar Reddy in protecting the interests of the State.

As the TD activists continued their protest, the police entered the scene and arrested Umamaheswara Rao, the Krishna district Telugu Yuvatha president Ch Anjaneyulu and others. The TDP activists led by Machilipatnam MP Konakalla Narayana staged a rasta roko at Gudivada to protest against Justice Brijesh Kumar Trubunal final verdict. Addressing the workers, Konakalla Narayana said supply of water to Krishna delta would be jeopardised due to the decision. In Guntur, the workers of TDP and left parties tried barge in to the Zilla Parishad office to stall the district review meeting which was in progress leading to tension for some time. The police intervened and stopped them from entering the office which resulted in verbal duel between the agitators and the police.

The members of the YSR Congress too held a protest at the Prakasam Barrage against the Tribunal Award and demanded that the award be reviewed to protect the interests of the State. The party senior leaders Ambati Rambabu, M Rajasekhar, R Ramakrishna Reddy and P Gowtham Reddy led the protest in which hundreds of the party workers and farmers from Guntur and Krishna districts participated.

The members of the BC Welfare Association also held a protest against the Brijesh Tribunal Award on Krishna river water distribution in Vijayawada.

They alleged that the Tribunal had done injustice to the State by not respecting the riparian rights of the State in the downstream of the river. The activists led by its organizing secretary P V Mahesh threatened to intensify agitation if the allocation for the State was not increased to suit its needs.