The Hindu : CPI opposes fresh panel on Krishna waters

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Monday, Nov 11, 2002

Southern States

Southern States - Andhra Pradesh

CPI opposes fresh panel on Krishna waters

By Our Staff Reporter

ANANTAPUR NOV. 10. The Communist Party of India has urged the State Government to thwart all efforts of the Karnataka Government for a new tribunal on the sharing of surplus Krishna waters. It will result in great injustice to the Rayalaseema and Telangana regions.

Talking to reporters here on Sunday, the CPI State executive member, T. Lakshminarayana, and the district secretary, M.V. Ramana, alleged that Karnataka was raking up fresh dispute on the allocation of surplus water by initiating a debate on the subject.

They said the Krishna Water Disputes Tribunal had awarded the right to utilise surplus waters to Andhra Pradesh, as it was at the fag end of the flow, but Karnataka was demanding reallocation of surplus waters. It had been mounting pressure on the Centre to set up another tribunal for reallocation of Krishna waters, they said.

Any reallocation of Krishna waters would result in great injustice to the projects like Handri-Neeva, Galeru Nagari, Velugonda, SLBC projects and Bheema, Nettempad and Kalwakurthy lift irrigation schemes proposed to benefit Anantapur, Kurnool, Cuddapah, Chittoor, Mahabubnagar, Nalgonda and Prakasam districts.

They alleged that delay on part the State Government in completing the projects would cost the drought-prone areas dearly. As the Government had been thinking on temporary political gains it had shrunk the projects, they said. He demanded the Government to complete the project with their original capacities.

The CPI leaders also criticised the Telangana Rashtra Samithi Chief, K. Chandrasekhar Rao's talk of allowing Karnataka to increase the height of Almatti dam, as it would affect the State's interests. They cited the bitter experience of Anantapur district in getting water from Tungabhadra dam.

They also criticised Karnataka for raising objections over the SRBC project, which was already cleared by the Central Water Commission by allocating water. They suggested the Government to complete projects by minimising losses under existing canal systems by modernising them and encouraging farmers under Nagarjunasagar and Prakasam Barrage to take the second crop as dry crop. They also opposed moves by Karnataka to construct an anicut near Paragodu, on the Chitravati river.

The CPI would commence four jathas as part of its `praja chaitanya yatra' from Chittoor (Kuppam), Adilabad, Nellore and Srikakulam districts on November 15 to take the problems to the people's notice and culminate the yatra as a massive rally in Hyderabad on November 26.

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