Uma for Delhi to settle water issues with TS

HYDERABAD: After Telangana irrigation minister T Harish Rao's meeting with Union water resources minister Uma Bharati in Delhi on Monday, now it is the turn of his AP counterpart Devineni Uma Maheswara Rao to call on Union ministers, followed by Andhra Pradesh chief minister N Chandrababu Naidu, to seek Centre's intervention in the ongoing disputes between the two states on various issues.

The AP government has decided to present a strong argument before the Centre over the contentious issues of generation of power at the Srisailam reservoir as well as sharing of the funds and assets of the institutions which have not been divided between the two states.

As part of this exercise, AP irrigation minister Uma Maheswara Rao is likely to leave for Delhi Tuesday along with the officials of the Irrigation Department to put forward an argument before the Union water resources minister over sharing of Krishna river waters and generation of power at Srisailam reservoir. According to sources, the decision was taken by AP chief minister, during Uma Maheswara Rao's meeting with the former Monday night.

Following the claim of Harish Rao that Uma Bharati had agreed with the argument of the Telangana State over power generation at Srisailam reservoir, Naidu is learnt to have told Uma to immediately fly to Delhi to present the case of AP over the issues of sharing of power and river waters.

'As the Telangana government has sought the Centre's intervention in the Srisailam hydel power generation issue, we are also planning to present our case in Delhi so as to request the Centre to ensure that Krishna River Water Management Board's decision over the issue is implemented in toto,' said Uma Maheswara Rao.

It is learnt that even AP chief minister Naidu is contemplating a visit to Delhi either on Nov 6 or 7 to request the Centre to prevail upon the TS government to adhere to the norms laid down in the AP Reorganisation Act - 2014 with regard to sharing of river waters and power.

AP chief secretary IYR Krishna Rao will also be leaving for Delhi to meet Union Cabinet secretary and Home secretary in the next couple of days to take up the issue of sharing of funds and assets of the institutions.

Earlier in the day, while addressing mediapersons here, he took strong exception to the manner in which TS chief minister K Chandrasekhar Rao had criticised Krishna River Water Management Board chairman SKG Pundit for asking the TS to stop power generation at the Srisailam reservoir.

Babu to leave for Bengaluru Today

AP chief minister N Chandrababu Naidu will be leaving for Bengaluru on Tuesday morning by a special flight for a two-day programme in the garden city.

The tour is aimed at attracting investments to the reorganised state. During his visit, Naidu will inaugurate NUTANIX Technologies Pvt Ltd at Marathahalli in Bellandur.

Later, he will visit CISCO & address employees on Vision for AP. Besides visiting Khosla Labs, he would hold discussions with agricultural experts on 'Best Practices' at Hotel ITC Gardenia.

Later, he will take part in the 'AP Road Show & Interactive Meet' at Hotel ITC Gardenia to woo business people to invest in AP.