Chief Minister Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy has lashed out at the Ministers and MLAs of Telangana for making “unwanted and unreasonable” comments on the utilisation of the Krishna waters, and has promised not to enter into any kind of dispute over sharing of the waters.
Addressing a public meeting here on the occasion of the Farmers’ Day celebrations on Thursday, Mr. Jagan Mohan Reddy sought to clarify that the YSRCP was not interested in poking its nose into the politics of any neighbouring State.
Seeking to rubbish all the objections being raised by the Telangana leaders over the implementation of the Rayalaseema Lift Irrigation Scheme (RLIS), the Chief Minister made it clear that “Andhra Pradesh is within its right to utilise the quantum of water allocated to it in whatever way it can.”
Tripartite agreement
“As per the tripartite agreement entered into on June 19, 2015, between Andhra Pradesh, Telangana and the Union government on the allocation of Krishna waters, Rayalaseema gets 144 tmcft, Telangana 295 tmcft and Coastal Andhra 367 tmcft out of the total available 811 tmcft. Rayalaseema can draw its full complement of water from Pothireddypadu only if the water level in Srisailam remains above 811 feet, and that situation is witnessed only for 20 to 25 days in a year,” Mr. Jagan Mohan Reddy said.
Questioning the Telangana leaders as to what was their objection if Andhra Pradesh utilised its allocated water through the RLIS at the level of 800 feet, the Chief Minister said the neighbouring State was drawing water bellow that level and generating power even at the level of 796 feet.
Mr. Jagan Mohan Reddy reminded the Telangana leaders that former Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu had kept quiet when they enhanced the capacity of the Kalwakurthy Lift Irrigation scheme and used the Krishna waters from the Palamuru and Dindi schemes – all below the level from where Rayalaseema could draw its share.
“Farmers on both sides of the border must survive and utilise water proportionately. I do not wish to have any kind of differences with the rulers in the neighbouring States,” he observed.
Top priority
Mr. Jagan Mohan Reddy sought to tell the farmers who gathered at the public meeting that he was for their welfare and had invested ₹83,600 crore in agriculture.
The Chief Minister said the State had purchased crops (other than paddy and cotton) valued at ₹6,600 crore for providing minimum support price. Paddy valued at ₹30,000 crore was procured along with ₹1,800-crore worth cotton.
