Accusing BRS president K. Chandrasekhar Rao of speaking utter lies on Krishna waters, Irrigation Minister N. Uttam Kumar Reddy said KCR had done a great disservice to Telangana by favouring Andhra Pradesh with his silence, for personal benefits.
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At a press conference here, Mr. Reddy made a PowerPoint presentation to prove wrong KCR’s claims in an interview to a private television channel and alleged that Telangana has forever lost rights over Krishna water due to KCR’s 10-year silence on water distribution. The worst hit were the combined districts of Mahabubnagar and Nalgonda.
Due to KCR’s inefficiency, Telangana’s share in Krishna water was drastically reduced to 299 tmcft as the BRS government entered into an interim ad hoc agreement on June 18, 2015 with the AP government to share 811 tmcft of Krishna River water in a 512:299. Telangana was eligible for 70% of the allocation due to a larger catchment area, more drought-prone regions, a higher basin population, and a greater cultivable area. He said Telangana’s future claims were restricted, allowing AP to rely on this agreement to push for similar water sharing in tribunals and other forums. This left Telangana in a challenging position, making it nearly impossible to revise the agreement.
He said KCR failed to oppose the increased capacity of the Rayalaseema Lift Irrigation Scheme (RLIS) to 92,592 cusecs despite meeting AP Chief Minister Jagan Mohan Reddy twice in May 2019 and in January 2020. If the RLIS scheme were to be completed, Andhra Pradesh would potentially usurp all the initial monsoon flows into the Srisailam reservoir from its rock bottom (+797 ft), potentially causing a devastating impact on the Nagarjunasagar Project (NSP). He said if Telangana had completed the construction of Palamuru Ranga Reddy Lift Irrigation Scheme (PRLIS) by 2019, it would have had a stronger position compared to RLIS. After damaging Telangana’s interests, KCR was now resorting to Goebbels propaganda to cover up his failures, he alleged.
Roads and Buildings Minister Komatireddy Venkata Reddy said KCR failed to complete the SLBC tunnel and this caused immense damage to Nalgonda district’s water needs. He said KCR’s claims indicate his desperation and now he should realise that the party would be wiped out after the Parliament polls. TPCC working president T. Jagga Reddy and Nalgonda MLAs were present.