Uttam wants Supreme Court to pause Nallamala Sagar project
Hyderabad: Irrigation Minister N Uttam Kumar Reddy has said that the state government wrote letters to all central agencies Jal Shakti Ministry, CWC, GRMB against Polavaram Nallamala Sagar project.
The Minister said he would attend the next hearing in Supreme Court against the project on January 12 and pleaded with the apex court to stall the project.
In an informal interaction with the reporters, Uttam said that clarified that the letter referenced by BRS leader T Harish Rao Rao to the Polavaram-Nallamala Sagar link project was an internal communication between to Directed of CWC and not CWC approval of the project.
The apex court has adjourned the hearing to next Monday, advising the petitioners to file under a suit petition rather than a writ petition. “We will again seek a stay order from the Supreme Court next Monday,” Reddy affirmed, adding that he plans to attend the next hearing in person.
He also mentioned scheduling another meeting with lawyers in the coming one or two days to refine their strategy. Shifting focus to the Rayalaseema Lift Irrigation Scheme (RLIS) in Andhra Pradesh, Reddy said the Telangana CM and State government in the state was instrumental for stopping RLIS work.
“The RLIS works were stopped only after the Congress government came to power in Telangana,” he said.
He wondered why the BRS regime failed to address the issue earlier if it had indeed, a sincere approach to the state’s interests. “It was due to our pressure that the Andhra Pradesh government halted the RLIS works,” he emphasised.
Reddy accused the BRS of failing to prioritise effective action in managing Krishna and Godavari river waters.
“During the BRS tenure, there was a yawning gap between the words and deeds in terms of ground work on Krishna-Godavari waters,” he remarked. He alleged that decisions like shifting the Palamuru-Rangareddy project from Jurala to Srisailam and redesigning the Tummidi Hatti project from Thummadihatti to Medigadda under the Kaleshwaram Lift Irrigation Scheme inflicted “huge losses” on Telangana for generations to come.
