TDP MLA from Hindupur N. Balakrishna has said the State government must make efforts to get the allocated Krishna waters to the Rayalaseema region by enhancing the drawal capacity of the Handri-Neeva Sujala Sravanthi (HNSS) project within a definite time frame, and complete the linking of the Godavari and the Penna.
Mr. Balakrishna was speaking at the party’s third regional meeting on ‘Krishna water and its future in Rayalaseema’ organised in Hindupur on Sunday.
TDP leaders from eight parliamentary constituencies of four districts attended the meeting.
Seeking immediate measures to obtain the approval of the Krishna River Management Board (KRMB) for all the ongoing irrigation projects mentioned in the A.P. State Reorganisation Act of 2014, Mr. Balakrishna said HNSS was the brainchild of TDP founder N.T. Rama Rao.
“The State government must immediately take up the linking of the Godavari, the Krishna and the Penna, and ensure Rayalaseema its due share of Krishna waters,” Mr. Balakrishna said.
Party coordinator for Rayalaseema and former Minister Kalava Srinivasulu flayed the government for not making any effort to exercise its right to reallocate the State’s quota of 512 tmcft Krishna water to different projects.
The meeting favoured that all the headworks of Krishna water projects being shared by the two Telugu States be managed by the KRMB on the lines of the Tungabhadra Board.
“The Chief Minister of Telangana is talking to the Union Jal Shakti Minister and ensuring that the projects on the Krishna are not stopped. But A.P. Chief Minister Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy is not mounting pressure on the Centre only to extricate himself from the court cases,” the TDP leaders alleged.
Party leaders from Chittoor, Kurnool, and Kadapa districts alleged that the government was not taking any initiative in enhancing the capacity of the HNSS project.
They also sought clear cut allocations for the Telugu Ganga, the Galeru-Nagari, the Veligonda, and the Nettampadu projects.
TDP Hindupur LS constituency in-charge B.K. Parthasarathy presided over the meeting.