HYDERABAD: Roads and Buildings Minister Vemula Prashanth Reddy said that a confrontation with Andhra Pradesh was inevitable as the latter was constructing irrigation projects on the Krishna river ‘illegally’.
Speaking at a programme in Divitipalli of erstwhile Mahbubnagar district on Tuesday, Prashant Reddy alleged that the Andhra Pradesh government was plundering Krishna waters, which would be detrimental to the interests of Mahbubnagar, Rangareddy, Nalgonda and Hyderabad districts of Telangana.
He said that if former Chief Minister YS Rajasekhara Reddy had been a ‘water thief’, his son and current Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh YS Jagan Mohan Reddy had turned out to be a ‘bigger thief’. “We thought Jagan Mohan Reddy was a changed man,” the Minister said, accusing him of being unjust towards Telangana.
Prashanth Reddy said that the leaders of Andhra Pradesh would always act against the interests of Telangana. “The AP government is going ahead with the construction of irrigation projects without any clearances. It had stated before the NGT that it would not take up the Rayalaseema Lift Irrigation Project without proper environment clearance,” he said, and alleged that the then YSR government had illegally diverted Krishna waters from Saisailam through Pothireddypadu Head Regulator. Reddy maintained that the Telangana govt would file cases against AP’s ‘illegal projects’ before the NGT, and also take up the matter with Prime Minister Narendra Modi.