Telangana state BJP President N Ramchander Rao accused the Revanth Reddy government of compromising with the interest of Telangana on the issue of increasing Almatti Dam height. He deplored that the Karnataka government is contemplating to increase the height of Almatti Dam from 519 to 524 mts which would be detrimental to Telangana farmers.
He wondered that Chief Minister Revanth Reddy often visits Delhi and meets Sonia Gandhi, Prinka Vadra and Rahul Gandhi, but he never raised the issue of Almatti dam though both states are ruled by Congress party.
Inspite of a stay by the Supreme Court not to take any construction works or increase the height of Almatti Dam, he lamented that the Karnataka government is busy in land acquisition near Dam surroundings with an intention to increase the storage capacity of Almatti.
Rao warned that if the Dam height would be raised it would severely impact farmers in south Telangana besides combined Mahaboobnagar, Nalgonda and RangaReddy districts would turn into a desert. He made it clear that the BJP would oppose any attempt to raise the Almatti dam height.
He questioned why Telangana Chief Minister Revanth Reddy, whose party is also in power in Karnataka, has not taken proactive steps to protect Telangana’s rights on Krishna River water and prevent harm to farmers. He expressed concern that Mahaboobnagar , native district of the C M, will also face further water problems and criticized him for his silence on an issue that threatens to cut off water to the region.
The BJP chief further alleged that the current Telangana government’s focus was on “contracts and commissions” rather than on protecting the state’s share of Krishna River water. He pointed out that the previous BRS government led by KCR had signed off on a limited share of 299 TMC of Krishna water for Telangana, which he claimed was a damage to the state.
He argued that the BRS has no moral right to speak on this issue and the current Congress government was also acting similarly. Reacting on the functioning of state Congress government Rao in a sarcastic way said the Revanth Reddy government was turned as “government for the contractors, government by the contractors and government for commissions”.
Rao urged the Telangana government to immediately negotiate with the Karnataka government to prevent harm to Telangana’s farmers.