At a time regional sentiments are being raised in Telangana once again against Andhra Pradesh, fearing they would be deprived of rightful share in water resources, if AP Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu moves ahead with his prestigious Polavaram- Banakacharla, even discontent is growing within the state. Not only a section of ruling coalition leaders, but also the thinking elite of the state are warning the government against this project.
A team of concerned citizens in the name of `Alochanaparula Vedika’ (Thinkers Forum), led by retired IPS AB Venkateswara Rao, who have visited few crucial irrigation projects for three days, have demanded that the government first complete pending irrigation projects on a war footing. They want the Polavaram- Banakacharla and Rayalaseema lift irrigation schemes to be scrapped.
With the slogan that projects should be built for the people, experts from various fields visited several projects across the state for 4 to 6 days this month. They include Rythu Seva Samiti president Akkineni Bhavani Prasad, river water and irrigation projects expert T Lakshminarayana, Center for Liberty promoter Nallamothu Chakravarthy, Jonnalagadda Rama Rao, and North Andhra Lake Conservation Society president Krishnamurthy Naidu.
The projects visited by the team include the Veligonda project, Srisailam reservoir Panjpool, SRBC and many others. After their visit, they demanded to scrap the proposed Polavaram-Banakacharla project worth Rs. 82,000 crore. They also want to stop the Rayalaseema lift irrigation scheme undertaken by a mega engineering company, which will waste Rs. 3,000 crore.
They recalled that the National Green Tribunal has also imposed a stay on this scheme. They said that Rs. 750 crore already spent should be combined with the Rushikonda section.
As part of the package that the Center will give for the development of backward areas, they demanded that Rs. 10,000 crore should be brought through EAP or another mechanism. With those funds, they said that all the projects in Rayalaseema should be irrigated to the last acre of land.
The team suggested to the government to empower the Krishna River Management Board as per the AP Reorganization Act and stop unauthorized projects.