Tribunal verdict, a sad day for state irrigation

Hyderabad, Nov 29 (INN): Terming the Brijesh Kumar Tribunal verdict on Krishna water utilization as a sad day for irrigation sector in the State, YSR Congress has demanded the State Government to move Supreme Court to bring a stay, failing which the State will become a desert with many of the projects planned on surplus waters will have to be shelved.

'The Tribunal calculating the allocation of water based on 65 % dependability, instead of 75 %, has allocated surplus waters of 177 TMC water to Karnataka and 81 TMC to Maharashtra leaving the lower riparian state of Andhra Pradesh in the lurch,' party senior leader Dr MV Mysoora Reddy told reporters here on Friday. The Tribunal has increased the State share by just 4 TMC which is meager and it has rejected all the objections raised by the State.

This allocation of surplus water to Maharashtra and Karnataka means regularization of the illegal projects constructed by the upper riparian states and our share will further come down. The State Government has failed to put forward its view point clearly and irrigation sector will be badly hit by this judgment.

The State should move Supreme Court and bring a stay on the Tribunal verdict as many State projects depending on the surplus water in Mahbubnagar, Nalgonda, Rayalaseema and Prakasam districts would be badly affected and the prospects of Nettampadu, Handri Neva and other projects stand in a quandary and they may be dried down, he said.

We are getting water only after the upper riparian states' needs are fulfilled and with this verdict, Almatti and Narayanpur will get sanctity and the water flow into our State will be further reduced. Giving permission to raise the height of Almatti dam is a big blow for the State, he said.

If the division takes place under these circumstances, Srisailam and Nagarjuna Sagar will get absolutely no water with one more state coming in between, he said.

N Chandrababu Naidu has failed to play his part as leader of opposition and the discrepancies took place while he was Chief Minister.

Meanwhile, in separate press meet, Party MLA Sreekanth Reddy said that the Brijesh Kumar Tribunal verdict is disappointing and the future of irrigation projects on Krishna surplus waters look bleak.

He blamed former Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu for allowing Karnataka to build dams and barrages illegally though he was playing a key role in national politics during 1997-2002.

Naidu did not pay any heed to irrigation sector and did not take up the Galeru Nagari and other projects while YSR, who succeeded him, has increased the budget for irrigation manifold and brought many projects under Jalayagnam to make full utilization of Krishna surplus waters.

The sharing of Krishna River waters has been taken up by our Party President YS Jagan Mohan Reddy who protested in Delhi. The division of the State will further hamper the projects on Krishna waters, he said adding that TDP has been leveling false allegations only to cover up Chandrababu Naidu's mistakes.