VIJAYAWADA: With the Union Jal Shakti Ministry announcing that it would go ahead with the relocation of the headquarters of the Krishna River Management Board (KRMB) to Andhra Pradesh, demands from Rayalaseema and Coastal Andhra Pradesh districts have once again surfaced with civil society organisations seeking establishment of the board in their respective regions.
Though it was earlier planned to have the board in and around Vijayawada, a change of location is most likely as the State government is determined to relocate the executive capital to Visakhapatnam.
The civil society organisations from Rayalaseema and coastal AP have also written letters to both the State government and the Union Jal Shakti ministry on multiple occasions, requesting that the board be established in their respective regions.
The Rayalaseema Saguneeti Sadhana Samithi (RSSS) said the headquarters of the board should be in Kurnool as the district is a gateway of sorts for the river in AP. “The board should be established in Kurnool for two reasons.
One, the district has the Srisailam project, a critical reservoir on the river. Two, the state government, in line with the Sribagh Pact, said it would make Kurnool the judicial capital. As the KRMB is also a disputes resolution forum, it should be a part of judicial capital,” said Bojja Dasaratha Rami Reddy, president of the Samithi.
On the other hand, those in coastal AP demand that the board’s headquarters be established in Vijayawada. President of Andhra Pradesh State Water Users Associations Federation Alla Venkata Gopal Krishna Rao said that Vijayawada was an ideal location as it is centrally located and has the best air, rail and road connectivity for monitoring the projects under the jurisdiction of the KRMB.
“The Chief Secretary wrote a letter on June 26, 2020, to the secretary of Union ministry requesting that the headquarters be set up in Vijayawada. Even in the recent board meeting in June, our officials requested that the headquarters be moved to Vijayawada,” Rao pointed out.
However, it is learnt that the government may suggest Vizag for the establishment of the board’s headquarters. Sources told TNIE that after judicial clearances, the board would be informed about the same. “The AP Reorganisation Act, 2014, states that the board should be relocated to AP. It is usually headquartered in the capital.
Since Amaravati was decided as the capital, we proposed Vijayawada earlier. Now that the government has plans to move to Visakhapatnam, which is sub-judice, we will finalise the things after clearance. We have received representations from various organisations, but as official setup is an administrative issue, there should not be any apprehensions about its location,” an official explained.
Three options
Rayalaseema Saguneeti Sadhana Samithi said that the headquarters of the board should be in Kurnool as the district is a gateway of sorts for the river in the State
Andhra Pradesh State Water Users Associations Federation demands that the board’s headquarters be established in Vijayawada
It is learnt that the State govt may suggest Vizag, executive capital, for the KRMB headquarters, after judicial clearance to 3-capital Bills