MLA foresees water wars

Resolve key issues before creating Telangana, says Bhumana

Tirupati: Tirupati MLA Bhumana Karunakar Reddy staged a dharna at Gandhi statue near RTC bus stand here on Friday demanding the Centre to resolve key issues like sharing of waters before dividing the State. Women activists attended with empty plastic pots and supported the agitation.

Addressing the gathering, Bhumana said that with the decision of the CWC to divide the State, people of Seemandhra region will be forced to fight among themselves for Krishna waters. He found fault with the CWC for not redressing the sharing of waters and several other key issues like higher education, health and employment first.

Once Telangana is formed, Seemandhra may face severe drinking and irrigation water shortage and disputes may arise between the different regions over sharing of river water, he said. He ured an amicable solution for such issues. Despite separate tribunals for resolving water disputes between different States, injustice will be done for Seemandhra people if Telangana constructs additional dams and reservoirs on Krishna and Godavari rivers, the MLA pointed out. Already the four districts of Rayalaseema are suffering from severe drought every year and this will be intensified with the division of the State, he said.Though crores of rupees have been spent on Galeru-Nagari and Handri-Niiva Sujala Sravanthi as Jala Yagnam projects, these will not serve the purpose in terms of drinking water or irrigated water. The Srisailam, Pothireddipadu and other projects would be affected when Telangana is separated, he added.

The same situation will arise in Andhra region regarding Godavari waters, he said. There are several apprehensions among the people right from Ananthapuram to Srikakulam districts over the sharing of river water and it is the duty of the Centre to do equal justice to all regions, he added.

Unless there is a clear picture over several key issues in Seemandhra districts there cannot be peace with Telangana State, he said. Certainly there will be water wars if the Centre does not find an amicable solution to key aspects before separating Telangana, he said.