Amidst the raging controversy over the sharing of Krishna river waters, Jaggaiahpet MLA Samineni Udaya Bhanu was stopped by the Telangana police at Muktyala village from visiting the Pulichintala project on Sunday.
The YSRCP MLA objected to the “high-handed behaviour of the Telangana police,” saying that he was going to the project only to see the factual position.
Mr. Udaya Bhanu could not cross the barricades erected by the Telangana police, who were deployed in large numbers there ever since tension escalated following the drawal of water by Telangana for power generation allegedly without necessary clearances, including from the Krishna River Management Board (KRMB).
Addressing the media later, Mr. Udaya Bhanu said Telangana was drawing water to generate 120 MW “in blatant violation of the established protocol,” as per which the irrigation requirements in both the States were to be met first before utilising the water for power generation.
‘Water wasted’
He pointed out that massive quantities of surplus river water (about 75 tmcft) was wasted as Telangana kept drawing water by ignoring Andhra Pradesh’s “legitimate right to utilise its allocations.”
Mr. Udaya Bhanu maintained that Andhra Pradesh as well as Telangana were bound by the awards of the Bachawat Tribunal.
It was Telangana that benefited the most out of the Krishna river water as former Chief Minister Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy had built more projects in that region, the MLA said, and demanded that Telangana Chief Minister K. Chandrashekhar Rao should help in reaching an amicable settlement and refrain from making provocative comments on the sensitive issue.
