Farmer leader and former agriculture minister Vadde Sobhanadreeswara Rao has urged the state government to present its arguments effectively before High Court and see that the case opposing release of Krishna water to the delta is vacated.
Speaking to reporters here on Sunday, he said the Krishna delta had been stabilised some 150 years ago much before the Nagarjuna Sagar dam was built.
Only after releasing water to the Krishna delta should water be released to the Nagarjuna Sagar left and right canals and then to the Srisailam left bank canal. Vadde alleged that the government advocate had failed to present the facts before the High Court and sought time to do it.
Meanwhile, the Krishna delta, where 13.5 lakh acres of ayacut produces 30 lakh tonnes of paddy, has been starved of water.
The `rice of bowl' should get water to ensure the country's food security. Rao said no farmer in Krishna delta was opposing construction of the Pranahita- Chevella and Kantalapalli irrigation projects and recalled that the Krishna delta farmers had sacrificed 20 tmcft of water when the Bhima project was constructed in the Telangana region.
He said that if there were flood waters Krishna district farmers would not oppose providing water to Pothireddypadu head regulator.
Farmers in all the regions should benefit but water should be given on the first stabilised ayacut first. Various courts too held the same view in the past, he claimed.
Sobhanadreeswara Rao said the black soil in the Krishna delta was not suitable for any other crop than paddy.
“Leaders should keep this fact in mind and ensure food security. Some leaders like Gutta Sukhender Reddy and SPY Reddy were not speaking the truth. As MPs they should protect the interests of the people of their respective segments but at the same time they should also keep the overall interests of the state. No leader should speak in such a way that will create ill will among the three regions of the state. The state has already lost its credibility in Delhi due to regional fight and it will suffer huge damage if peoples of the three regions fight for water,'' he warned.