HYDERABAD: It is official now. The gazette notification of the Ministry of Jal Shakti, bringing irrigation projects under the control of the river management boards, will not be implemented from October 14. Godavari River Management Board (GRMB) chairman J Chandrashekhar Iyer said that as per the gazette, they could not take control of the projects unless the States handed them over. The GRMB proposed to take over one inter-State medium irrigation project, the Peddavagu project, in Aswaraopet mandal of Kothagudem district, out of 71 projects in the gazette notification. The ayacut under Peddavagu is 16,000 acres, of which 13,000 acres is in AP and 3,000 acres in Telangana.
Telangana officials said at Monday’s Board meeting that they would discuss the matter legally and politically and hand over the Peddavagu project after the State government took a decision on the same. On the other hand, AP officials said that the Board should not take Peddavagu alone and take all the projects right from SRSP as, due to Telangana’s unauthorised projects, AP was not getting water on lean days. Thus, the Board said that for the time being, Peddavagu should be managed by both States and in the meantime, the Board would study it.
“Heavens are not going to fall apart if the implementation of the gazette notification is delayed by a few days,” Special Chief Secretary, Irrigation of Telangana Rajat Kumar told mediapersons later. He said that as per the instructions of the State government, they would hand over the Peddavagu project to the Board. “We have some doubts. We are wondering whether handing over of the project is like giving away one’s own house to others,” Rajat Kumar said.
AP Irrigation Secretary J Syamala Rao said that for handing over the project, the State government had to issue a GO. He said due to unauthorised projects of Telangana, AP was not getting water in the lean days in Godavari. “In the last water year, we were compelled to release water from Sileru for irrigation purposes. Let the Board take over all the projects across Godavari in Telangana,” he demanded.
AP and Telangana officials questioned that if the Board had proposed to manage only one medium project, then why did it require Rs 200 crore each from AP and Telangana towards seed money. The Board did not require such huge money, they felt, and wanted to know from the GRMB chairman the purpose for which the seed money would be used.
Telangana officials submitted a letter in the meeting seeking clarification from the Board on how the seed funds would be utilised by the Board. “Once we have received a clarification from the Board, then we will examine release of funds,” said an official of Telangana. However, AP officials said they had issued a budget release order (BRO) for Rs 8 crore towards seed money for the Boards.
KRMB MEET TO BE HELD TODAY
The Krishna River Management Board (KRMB) full board meeting will be held on Tuesday to discuss the implementation of the gazette notification.