HYDERABAD/SRIKAKULAM:Even as the war of words continues between Andhra Pradesh and Telangana states over construction of new irrigation projects, Irrigation minister T Harish Rao invited his Andhra Pradesh counterpart Devineni Umamaheswara Rao on Wednesday to a dialogue on the Rajolibanda Diversion Scheme (RDS).
Harish Rao, who was in Warangal, called up Umamaheswara Rao who was in Srikakulam and proposed a dialogue over issues pertaining to RDS. The AP minister agreed to the talks and told Harish that AP government was even prepared to discuss the issue of Pulichintala displaced persons.
"We are ready for talks and are ready to fight along with TS over illegal projects being constructed by Maharashtra and Karnataka," Umamaheswara Rao said. But, his offer had a rider that TS should not construct illegal projects and place all the detailed project reports before the apex council.
"We have no objection if the upper riparian states obtain necessary permissions from the apex council of both Godavari and Krishna river management boards headed by Union water resources minister Uma Bharti. The same was conveyed to Harish Rao," Umamaheswara Rao said. Further, the AP government has written to the apex council to convene a meeting of the chief ministers of AP and Telangana to resolve the issues.
The AP minister said that though 812 tmcft of water was allocated by the Bachawat Tribunal, only 66 tmcft was available in the Srisailam Catchment Area due to drought conditions in Maharashtra and Karnataka.
"We are ready to discuss with Telangana government to find an amicable solution to river water sharing. However, the new projects being constructed by the Telangana government might prove deadly for the Nagarjuna Sagar and Krishna Delta besides making it difficult to supply water to Hyderabad itself," he added.