The Andhra Pradesh government has decided to represent to the Central government about the projects being taken up across the river Krishna by neighbouring Telangana without obtaining permission from the Central Water Commission or the Apex Council governing the water distribution between the two States.
Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu said in New Delhi on Tuesday that though the Central government had promised constitution of special river boards and setting up of the Apex Council to look into the water distribution issues, they were not yet put in place two years after the bifurcation. The Nagarjunasagar and Srisailam projects were divided between the two States and the States needed to obtain permission from the authorities concerned for taking up any projects.
The Centre should accordingly take steps to depute special officers to ensure effective distribution of water between the two States. “Andhra Pradesh is the lowest riparian State and our rights should be protected. The Centre should intervene and ensure that sharing of river water between the two States is done on a pro rata basis giving no scope for conflict between the riparian States,” he said. The State government, he said, had prioritised works relating to irrigation projects and it was programmed to complete the Galeru-Nagari, Handri-Neeva and other projects in a time-bound manner. Stating that Prime Minister Narendra Modi had positively responded to the State’s requests, he said the State government wanted the Centre to ensure that the problems were addressed in a time-bound manner.
Interlinking of rivers
The State government will soon put in place a real time water management system, enabling the authorities concerned to monitor the ground and surface water levels in different parts of the State at any given point of time.
The government, at the same time, will take steps to ensure inter-linking of the Krishna with the Penna from the Kandaleru reservoir to avoid scope for any shortage of water in the coming days.
“We have successfully completed diversion of the Godavari water to the Krishna basin through the Pattiseema lift irrigation scheme. The focus will now be on interlinking the Penna with the Krishna,” the Chief Minister said.
Mr. Naidu held an hour-long meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi on the drought situation in the State and the measures taken by the government to tackle it.
“While we cannot control natural calamities like cyclones, which cause immense damage, drought is a manmade disaster that can be tackled,” he said.
The State government had accordingly put in place several mechanisms like water harvesting structures, rain gauges to ensure that rainwater was harnessed to the maximum extent possible.
“Enhancing the groundwater level by one metre will ensure saving of huge quantity of water, and the government has launched a movement in this direction,” he said.
Micro irrigation
The government was also focussing on promoting the micro irrigation segment by taking steps to enhance the acreage from the present 20 lakh to 50 lakh in the next few years. An effective system for water budgeting and auditing was being evolved to ensure that the available resources were utilised effectively.
The promised special river boards and the Apex Council are yet to become a reality
N. Chandrababu Naidu,
AP Chief Minister.
