The State government has taken a serious view of Andhra Pradesh government’s decision to lift 3 tmcft of water from Srisailam project for its proposed new lift irrigation projects.
‘Unilateral decision’
Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao was categorical in saying that the proposed lifting of water from Srisailam project was “unilateral” and against the interests of Telangana. The State government has resolved to take to legal recourse against the neighbouring State’s decision, claiming that it was committed to protect the interests of the State.
“The government will not compromise when it comes to the interests of the State,” the Chief Minister said. He reviewed the situation arising out of AP’s decision with senior officials late on Monday evening where he directed the officials concerned to file a complaint with the Krishna River Management Board. The AP Reorganisation Act, 2014, made clear that the permission of the Apex Committee was mandatory for taking up any project on inter-State rivers either in Telangana or AP. But the neighbouring State government did not obtain the permission of the Apex Committee or consulted the Telangana government in the matter and unilaterally went ahead with issuing the order for lifting the water in spite of the fact that Srisailam was an inter-state project.
“Issuing orders without consulting the TS government or taking the consent of the Apex Committee is highly objectionable,” the Chief Minister said. The lifting of water from Srisailam would have adverse impact on the availability of water in erstwhile united Mahabubnagar, Rangareddy and Nalgonda districts and the government would not compromise on this.
Mr. Rao said the government had offered its cooperation to the neighbouring state for amicably resolving the pending issues between the two States. But the AP government’s decision was against the spirit of cooperation that was being given by Telangana. The officials concerned should therefore take up the matter in the right earnest to ensure that the state was not denied of its rights.
The Chief Minister said the government took up projects to harness 950 tmcft of water from Godavari as its share, but the State still had shortage in meeting its agriculture, domestic and industrial needs. The officials concerned should therefore request the Centre to allot 650 tmcft of surplus water of Godavari to Telangana enabling the State to meet its requirements.