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Hyderabad, Nov 18 (IANS) Reiterating his opposition to the Polavaram-Bankacherla link project being planned by Andhra Pradesh, Telangana Irrigation Minister Uttam Kumar Reddy on Tuesday urged Union Jal Shakti Minister CR Patil not to grant permission to the project.
Uttam Kumar Reddy met the Union Minister in Delhi and urged him not to approve the project proposed by Andhra Pradesh.
The Telangana minister told media persons after the meeting that the Andhra Pradesh government is trying to launch the project with a different name,” he said.
He said, “Andhra Pradesh has submitted a pre-feasibility report regarding the Polavaram-Bankacherla link project. We opposed it. It is very clear that there is no scope for anyone to allocate flood water in the Godavari water dispute 1980 award.”
The minister said that he told the Union Minister in writing that this project is illegal. He said Maharashtra and Karnataka are also opposing the project.
Uttam Kumar Reddy also urged the Center not to allow Karnataka to increase the height of the Almatti Dam on the Krishna River. He said that the Supreme Court has given stay that the height of Almatti should not be increased more than 519 meters.
“While this moratorium is in force, the Karnataka government has taken a cabinet decision, given a government order and initiated land acquisition proceedings to increase the height. We have brought this matter to the notice of the Central government,” he said, adding that increasing the height of Almaty would be unfair to Telangana.
Uttam Kumar Reddy also urged Patil to resolve Telangana’s irrigation-related issues pending with the Jal Shakti Ministry. “We have sought allocation of a total of 90 TMC water for the Palamuru Rangareddy Lift Irrigation Scheme. Out of this, we have asked for 45 TMC water to be allocated immediately,” he said.
He also sought early approval for the Samakka-Sarakka project on the Godavari river. He told the Union Minister that the state government has already submitted the Detailed Project Report (DPR) and given all the details to the Central Water Commission.
Brijesh Tribunal (Krishna Water Dispute Tribunal-2) should divide 811 TMC between Andhra Pradesh and Telangana, but the proceedings related to this are also going on at a very slow pace. Reddy said the Center should take the initiative and request the Brijesh tribunal to quickly finalize these proceedings.
The Telangana minister also demanded release of funds for the state’s irrigation projects. He said that the state government had been demanding central funding for irrigation for the last 22 months.
–IANS
MS/UK