Chairman of the Forum for Utilization of Godavari Water (FUGW) Marri Shashidhar Reddy has observed that most of the irrigation projects in erstwhile Andhra Pradesh and the present AP and Telangana States are not subjected to Environmental and Social Impact Assessments to address various concerns including displacement of people.
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The remarks of Mr. Shashidhar Reddy, who held the post of Vice Chairman of the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) in the past, assume significance particularly in the backdrop of people opposing the plans of the government to acquire a large extent of land for irrigation projects in Medak and Mahabubnagar districts.
Agitated farmers of some villages even burnt the effigies of Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao and Irrigation Minister T. Harish Rao on Saturday to register their protest against the government’s plans to acquire about 16,000 acres land for Komaravelli Mallannasagar balancing reservoir in Medak district, a major component of the Kaleshwaram project.
Mr. Shashidhar Reddy felt that the impact assessment from social and environmental angles should invariably and ideally precede any project activity.
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Speaking to newspersons here on Sunday, he alleged that the first Government in Telangana was aggressively reviving and reformulating irrigation projects with the same pattern and strategies as followed in the past. As a result, the State Government’s approach was being questioned on various dimensions as transparency and accountability had become a major concern, the Congress leader said.
Mr. Reddy expressed concern over the government’s attitude to avoid several basic issues.
KCR’s powerpoint presentation on projects only centred on design and technical aspects without any commitment to participatory planning.
M. Shashidhar Reddy,
Congress leader.