HYDERABAD: BRS Deputy Floor Leader T Harish Rao has accused Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy of compromising state’s legitimate rights over the Krishna and Godavari river waters for political interests while projecting the recent meeting with his Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh counterparts at Tungabhadra as a historic achievement.
Addressing a press conference at the BRS office here on Saturday, Harish pointed out that Karnataka was moving ahead with the 35 TMC Naveli Reservoir upstream of the Rajolibanda Diversion Scheme (RDS), while Andhra Pradesh was planning the 20 TMC Gundrevula Project downstream of the RDS.
Together, these projects would enable the two states to impound nearly 55 TMC of water, severely affecting inflows into the Srisailam reservoir and jeopardising irrigation projects dependent on it, including the Kalwakurthy Lift Irrigation Scheme and the Palamuru-Rangareddy Lift Irrigation Project, he said.
He questioned whether the chief minister had secured any concrete assurance on Telangana’s rightful allocation of 15.90 TMC under RDS, the permanent closure of unauthorised AP outlets, or repairs to its canal system and dam.
He also sought an explanation from the chief minister on what transpired during the closed-door meeting attended only by the chief ministers of Telangana, Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka, along with a senior Union Water Resources official, while Irrigation Minister Uttam Kumar Reddy and senior state irrigation officials were reportedly kept out of the meeting.