Former Deputy Speaker and former chairman of Krishna Delta Parirakshna Samithi (KDPS) Mandali Buddha Prasad on Thursday appealed to political parties in Andhra Pradesh to come together in launching a protest against the Karnataka government’s proposal to increase the height of the Almatti dam from the existing 519 metres to 524 metres on the Krishna.
In a letter addressed to the political parties in the State, Mr. Prasad said: “The agriculture and irrigation in the Krishna river’s tail-end States of Andhra Pradesh and the Telangana, will suffer if the dam height is increased to store the additional 130 to 160 tmcft during the monsoon. If that happens, the two States will go dry in the coming years. A protest against this move is the need of the hour to be launched on a war-footing.”
Recently, the Karnataka government sent a proposal to the Centre, seeking issue of a notification to proceed with the increase of the dam height, preparing to spend a whopping ₹61,000 crore for it.
Political parties in Andhra Pradesh should realise the availability of water for irrigation for the kharif in the coming years if Alamatti dam height is increased. The Telugu-speaking States will have to cry for water for irrigation, said Mr. Prasad.
The then State government, led by Chief Minister N. Kiran Kumar Reddy, went to Supreme Court against the Brijesh Kumar Tribunal order that allowed Karnataka to increase the Alamatti dam height to 524 metres. Mr. Prasad and KDPS chairman Akkineni Bhavani Prasad have intensified efforts to kick-start the oppose the increase of the dam height.
