For the first time since the final verdict of the three-member Krishna Water Disputes Tribunal (KWDT) II headed by Justice Brijesh Kumar came on November 29, Ministers and several MLAs from the Rayalaseema districts joined hands and resolved to launch a protracted struggle to get the arid region its due share of waters.
On Thursday, a three-hour meeting convened under the auspices of the newly-formed Rayalaseema Rights and Development Forum saw members resolving to bring the injustice the notice of President Pranab Mukherjee and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.
The allocation ordered by KWDT-II now for A.P., Karnataka and Maharashtra is 1005, 907 and 666 tmcft (thousand million cubic feet) of water respectively, as against an allocation under KWDT-I led by former Supreme Court Judge R.S. Bachawat, of 811, 734 and 485 tmcft respectively. The major cause of concern was the KWDT-II order allowing the increase in height of Almatti dam in Karnataka and the manner of distribution of surplus waters.
Among the Ministers present at the meeting were N. Raghuveera Reddy, T.G. Venkatesh, Erasu Pratap Reddy, C. Ramachandraiah and Ahmedullah and about 20 MLCs and MLAs from the four Rayalaseema districts -- Anantapur, Chittoor, Kadapa and Kurnool.
Mr. Raghuveera Reddy said that the issue of injustice to the already arid Rayalaseema region needed to be taken to the attention of national-level leaders.
It was presided over by forum convenor Ch. Chandrasekhar Reddy.
The resolutions also included launching a campaign to increase awareness among people and taking into confidence all political leaders in the region cutting across political affiliation, he said.
