TIRUPATI: Ahead of the Krishna River Management Board (KRMB) meeting on January 11, intellectuals, farmers and people of Rayalaseema have urged the State government to seek the establishment of the board office in Kurnool instead of Visakhapatnam.
They felt that it is unfortunate that the government gave a letter to the KRMB seeking setting up of its office in Visakhapatnam. The government should reconsider its decision on setting up of the KRMB office in Visakhapatnam and submit fresh letter seeking its establishment in Kurnool at the KRMB meeting on Wednesday, wherein the office shifting may have been on the agenda.
The Godavari River Management Board (GRMB) and KRMB are located in Hyderabad, capital of the erstwhile undivided Andhra Pradesh. The Centre promised to shift the KRMB office to AP after the bifurcation of the State in 2014. “Kurnool has the geographical advantage than Visakhapatnam as the Krishna river enters AP in Kurnool and flows into the sea in Krishna district. Tungabhadra, one of the major tributaries of the Krishna river, flows through Kurnool. Moreover, Kurnool geographically is in close proximity to the two Telugu States,” explained M Purushotham Reddy, convenor of Rayalaseema Intellectual Forum (RIF).
Disputes often arise between the riparian States of AP and Telangana over allocation and sharing of Krishna water. Telangana objects to drawing of Krishna water through the Handri-Neeva project and other lift irrigation schemes for the benefit of Rayalaseema.
“The shifting of the KRMB office to AP will be a litmus test for the YSRC government and it will lose the faith of people of Rayalaseema, if it proposes to shift it to Visakhapatnam. The establishment of the KRMB office in Kurnool will not only be a moral victory for the people of the region, but also beneficial to the government to get the support from Rayalaseema for its three-capital plan,” Purushotham Reddy told TNIE.
Rayalaseema Saagu Neeti Sadhana Samithi president B Dasaratharami Reddy said the two main objectives of the KRMB office are to oversee the rightful allocation and utilisation of the river water among the regions and resolve the disputes between the two riparian States over sharing water.
“The KRMB office should be set up in Kurnool, where there is Srisailam reservoir, which acts as a crucial point for both Telangana and AP in water utilisation. If the office is set up in Kurnool, it will prevent the two Telugu States from drawing water beyond the permissible allocation from Srisailam reservoir and ensure that enough water is stored in the project for the needs of Rayalaseema,” he said.
At a round-table conference held in Nandyal on Monday, the Samithi and other intellectuals unanimously adopted a resolution against the government’s move to set up the KRMB office in Vizag.