The Telugu Desam Party organised a Maha Dharna on the river bed of Krishna at the Prakasam Barrage on Saturday demanding release of Nagarjuna Sagar water to the Krishna delta for kharif crops.
CPI activists also participated in the Maha Dharna.
Speaking at the dharna camp, TDP leaders exhorted the Krishna delta farmers to fight for their rightful share of the river water.
They came down heavily on the Kiran Kumar Reddy government for its failure to file a counter petition in the High Court on the release of Nagarjuna Sagar project (NSP) to the Krishna delta.
They demanded that the Congress government make a categorical statement on the release of NS water to the delta.
Telugu Rythu state president Karanam Balaram alleged that the government was trying to deceive the Krishna delta farmers citing the GOs as a hindrance to release of NS water.
It should release NS water even if the water level in the dam is at the dead storage level to safeguard the interests of delta farmers, he said.
The TDP leader said the Congress MPs failed to raise the plight of Krishna delta farmers due to non-release of NS water in the ongoing Parliament session.
Ponnur MLA Dhulipala Narendra flayed the YSR regime for issuing the controversial GO 107 which makes it mandatory to maintain a minimum draw down level (MDDL) of 854 ft at Srisailam reservoir.
Finding fault with the Telangana and Rayalaseema leaders for opposing the release of Nagarjuna Sagar water to the delta, former minister Kodela Siva Prasada Rao said it would result in food crisis in the state.
The prevention of water release would also affect the interests of farmers in Nalgonda and Khammam districts where 8 lakh acres are under cultivation.
TDP district president Devineni Uma Maheswara Rao, who led the Maha Dharna, criticised the state government for its failure to convince the Brijesh Kumar Tribunal, which accepted the Karnataka government’s proposal of increasing the height of Almatti dam.
TDP Politburo member K Yerran Naidu, Machilipatnam MP Konakalla Narayana Rao, MLAs Dasari Balavardhana Rao, Jayamangala Venkataramana, MLCs YVB Rajendra Prasad and Nannapaneni Rajakumari, CPI MLC Jelli Wilson, CPI city secretary Donepudi Sankar and others spoke at the dharna.
Mild tension prevailed at the dharna camp when the police prevented the vehicles of TDP leaders near Prakasam Barrage.
Vehicular traffic on the barrage was not allowed during the TDP Maha Dharna.