KCR to prove AP wrong

Hyderabad: The stage is set for the Chief Ministers of the two Telugu states to lock horns each other on the construction of irrigation projects across Krishna and Godavari rivers during the second Apex Council meeting to be held on Tuesday.

Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao has prepared detailed notes to negate the arguments of Andhra Pradesh that the projects taken up by the Telangana government were illegal. Official sources said that "KCR is ready not only to explain how the ongoing projects in Telangana were legal but would also present with documentary evidence to prove that it was the neighbouring state which was constructing illegal projects. The virtual meeting will be chaired by Union Jal Shakti Minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat.

KCR had recently written a 14-page letter to the Union Minister explaining the instances of injustice meted to the state in sharing of Krishna waters in the erstwhile state of Andhra Pradesh. He said the Pothireddypadu Head Regulator Project was an illegal construction and its unauthorized expansion by Andhra Pradesh would further damage the interests of Telangana.

KCR will also highlight the failures of KRMB as a regulatory body. Though the matter of Pothireddypadu Regulator and the Rayalseema Lift Irrigation Scheme was first brought to the notice of KRMB as early as in February 2020, it had failed to take any action to stop Andhra Pradesh from calling for tenders relating to out-of-basin transfer from Krishna Basin, he said in the letter.

The AP government had complained to GRMB against nine Telangana projects — Kaleshwaram Lift Irrigation Scheme (KLIS), GLIS phase-3, Sita Rama Lift Irrigation Scheme, Tupakulagudem, Telangana Drinking Water Supply Project, three barrages on the Lower Penganga river — Rajupet (Bhimkund), Chanaka-Korata and Pimparad-Parsoda — and the Ramappa to Pakhal Lake diversion.

The neighbouring state also took strong exception to Telangana projects on Krishna - Palamuru Ranga Reddy Lift Irrigation Scheme, Dindi Lift Irrigation Scheme, Bhaktha Ramadas Lift Irrigation Scheme, Water Grid Project taken up under Mission Bhagiratha, Thummilla Lift Irrigation Scheme, enhancing the scope of the Mahatma Gandhi Kalwakurthi Lift Irrigation Scheme (MGKLIS) and the Nettempadu Lift Irrigation Scheme.