AICC secretary and former MLA Ch. Vamshichand Reddy urged Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao to protest Karnataka government’s proposal to raise Almatti dam’s height as Telangana would lose 130 TMC if the expansion plans go ahead.
At a press conference here, he said he Karnataka government has sent a proposal to the Centre for increasing the Almatti dam height from 519.6 meters to 524.2 meters. If the height is increased, Karnataka will be able to use 303 TMC of water, while the present usage was 173 TMC.
It means Telangana will lose 130 TMC.
IIT study
Mr. Reddy reminded that the Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore, based on the Bachavat tribunal allocations, had clearly stated that a height of 518.7 meters would be enough for Alamatti dam but the Karnataka government wants to increase the height. It is quite surprising that the Chief Minister has remained silent like he did when the Andhra Pradesh government issued Government Orders to withdraw additional water from Pothireddypadu head regulator.
“This will be a great loss to Telangana and the future of the State is at stake,” he said, and demanded the government to immediately call for an all-party meeting.
‘Speak to Karnataka CM’
Mr. Reddy also wanted the Chief Minister to speak to his counterpart in Karnataka and also send a team to the Central government expressing the State’s serious concern. He further asserted that this increase in height will affect not only Telangana but also Andhra Pradesh and Maharashtra.
The increase in height will also lead to serious risk of floods to Sathara, Sangli and Kolhapur districts of Maharashtra.
He said the increase in height has been proposed at a cost of ₹61,000 crore, including ₹32,000 crore for land acquisition.
