Former minister and BRS leader T. Harish Rao has urged the Centre to take immediate steps to protect Telangana’s water shares in the Godavari river waters. He said that the construction of projects is being delayed due to the Congress government’s failure to obtain project permits in the state. He appealed to Union Minister G. Kishan Reddy to take immediate action to protect the interests of the state.
He wrote a letter to Union Minister Kishan Reddy regarding the delay in obtaining permits for Telangana projects and the loss being caused to the state. He appealed to the Centre to provide full cooperation in taking steps to protect the rights of Telangana.
Harish Rao deplored that the irrigation benefits of Telangana will be lost due to the transfer of 200 TMC of Godavari water to the Penna basin through the Godavari-Banakacharla project undertaken by the Andhra Pradesh government. He alleged that although the permissions of the Godavari-Krishna Boards are mandatory according to the Bifurcation Act, the Andhra Pradesh government is violating the law by undertaking the project without permits.
Harish Rao expressed concern over AP CM Chandrababu Naidu writing two letters to Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman for funds for the Godavari-Banakacharla project. He said it was regrettable that the permits for the plans to lift 3 TMC per day for the Kaleshwaram project were still pending.
He said that the Center has been delaying the TAC permission for the Sitamma Sagar project for 6 months. He felt that the Center’s intervention was necessary on the issuance of Chhattisgarh’s NOC for the Sammakka Sagar project. In the letter, Harish Rao said that the Center needs to focus on environmental clearances for the Palamuru-Ranga Reddy lift irrigation scheme.
He said that the Center is not considering the comprehensive project reports sent by the Telangana government. He said that the irrigation opportunities have improved significantly through Mission Kakatiya, restoration of tanks and check dams. He said that the plan to lift an additional 1 TMC of water for the Kaleshwaram project for the use of flood waters has not yet been approved.
Harish Rao expressed concern that the construction of projects is being delayed due to the failure of the Congress government in the state to obtain project permissions.