The Andhra Pradesh state government has decided at the Tungabhadra Board meeting held on Saturday to change all 33 gates of the Tungabhadra dam at once. The AP government has ordered the preparation of DPR on the crust gates. It has sought the removal of the freeze on Tungabhadra accounts.
It has said that the proposal to construct the Navali reservoir proposed by Karnataka is not reasonable due to siltation in the Tungabhadra. It has said that the diversion of Krishna water proposed by the AP government to the KC Canal is against the tribunal.
Meanwhile, the Telangana government has objected to the proposals of Karnataka and AP. A dispute has arisen between the AP government and the Tungabhadra Board in the past.
It is known that the TDP government had issued orders on September 29 cancelling the works on the grounds that the tenders called for the RCC lining of the Tungabhadra canals during the Jaganmohan Reddy’s regime did not follow the rules and that the then YSRCP leaders had committed corruption and made shady deals.
However, board officials said that there was no need to cancel those tenders. Moreover, the AP government’s orders do not apply to them, Tungabhadra Board officials say. This controversy has now become a topic of discussion.
The previous government had called for tenders for RCC lining of the Tungabhadra canals worth about Rs. 400 crore. In this, two MLAs of the ruling YCP at that time from Kurnool district stayed in Bellary and distributed the work to the contractors.
There were allegations that a dark agreement was made to give 5 percent share to those MLAs who turned the wheel behind the scenes. The contractors did not start the work for various reasons.
After that, the TDP government that came to power in AP issued orders to cancel the works that were not started after the tenders were completed during the YSRCP government’s tenure and the works that were less than 25 percent in progress.
However, the board officials’ statement that the Andhra Pradesh government’s orders do not apply to the board and that there is no need to cancel those tenders has become controversial.