Southern States - Andhra Pradesh   

Naidu accuses Karnataka of violating norms

By Our Staff Reporter

VIJAYAWADA MAY 8. The Chief Minister, N. Chandrababu Naidu, accused the S. M. Krishna Government of violating all norms and going ahead with the construction of the various irrigation projects to deny Andhra Pradesh its rightful share of the Krishna waters.

He said the construction of the Alamatti, Tungabhadra, Palgode and Chitravathi dams had blocked the flow of water into the State, which is already reeling under severe drought conditions.

The Chief Minister's outburst came in response to queries from reporters here on Thursday on the "padayatra'' being undertaken by the CLP leader, Y. S. Rajashekara Reddy.

Visibily annoyed at the reference to the CLP leader, Mr. Naidu termed as "politically motivated'' the padayatra being undertaken by Mr. Reddy.

``When elections are round the corner, such padayatras are common for one to be in the news and gain support,'' he remarked and charged the Congress leaders with shedding "crocodile tears'' for the people suffering due to the severe drought conditions in the State.

He taunted the Congress leaders including Dr. Y S Rajashekara Reddy to demonstrate their sincerity and concern for the people of the State, by persuading the Congress-ruled Karnataka Government to release water to Andhra Pradesh.

The Chief Minister felt that if the State Congress leaders were genuinely concerned about their own State, then they should immediately exert pressure on the party high command and the Congress ruled Karnataka Government to release water to Andhra Pradesh.

The Chief Minister ruled out the question of his approaching the AICC president Sonia Gandhi to seek her help for reining in the Karnataka Government.

``Why should I approach her and what purpose will it serve. I have spoken to S. M. Krishna, our Minister has interacted with his counterpart, our MPs have raised the issue in Parliament, but there has been no change in the Congress party's stance on the issue,'' he said.

The Chief Minister said the Government has moved the court against the Karnataka Government and hoped justice would be done to Andhra Pradesh in this regard.

Referring to the drought relief measures undertaken by the Government in the State, Mr Naidu said an amount of Rs 600 crores had already been released towards relief measures. About 15 lakh tonnes of rice has been released to provide 10kgs of rice for over 20 lakh families.

Instructions, he said, had been given to district Collectors to provide adequate water to the people through tankers and digging of additional borewells, besides provision of required quantity of fodder to the cattle.

Printer friendly page  
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Southern States

News: Front Page | National | Southern States | Other States | International | Opinion | Business | Sport | Miscellaneous |
Advts: Classifieds | Employment | Obituary |

Stories in this Section

• Unruly scenes mar padayatra at Khammam
• Vijayawada police chief told to surrender
• WUAs to be permanent bodies
• Student unions threaten stir on engineering course fee
• APCC to check partymen's outbursts
• Left organisations' call for State bandh on May 21
• TDP reviewing observers' reports
• 'Busted PW training camp dangerous to security'
• Duplicate glucose racket busted
• Ex-Minister puts YSR in a fix
• Naidu accuses Karnataka of violating norms

Copyright © 2003, The Hindu. Republication or redissemination of the contents of this screen are expressly prohibited without the written consent of The Hindu