Harish Rao accuses Naidu of triggering water war

Hyderabad, Feb 13 (INN): Irrigation Minister T Harish Rao on Friday accused Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu of making deliberate attempts to deny Telangana its share of water from the Nagarjuna Sagar.

Addressing a press conference here, Harish Rao said that Andhra Pradesh has already utilised 43.13 TMC of excess water from the Nagarjuna Sagar. Stating that excess utilisation was in violation of all the norms set as per the Bachawat Award and AP Reorganisation Act, he said now only 63 TMC of water is left in Nagarjuna Sagar. He said that the Telangana has a right over 229.9 TMC of water and the AP Government has been trying to snatch this share through illegal means. He said that the Telangana Government could consider releasing 5-6 TMC of water to help the farmers of Andhra Pradesh. However, the AP Government wants to take away entire water which would lead to drought situation in Khammam and Nalgonda districts.

Harish Rao said that the Telangana Government has already made several representations to the Centre over the issue. He said that the Telangana Government would write a fresh letter to AP Government offering an amicable solution. He alleged that Chandrababu Naidu has been deliberately trying to create problems for Telangana. Despite having surplus energy, he stopped production and did not supply energy to Telangana during Rabi season. He wants to create similar crisis in Telangana during Khariff season, he alleged. He said Naidu’s behaviour would hurt the interest of farmers of both the States.

Meanwhile, the tussle between the irrigation officials of Telangana and AP took a serious turn on Friday. The Telangana officials closed the gates of Nagarjuna Sagar Dam’s Right Canal while preventing the AP Government officials to release 6,000 cuses of water. Large number of police personnel of both the States has been deployed on both sides of the dam.

Trouble started on Wednesday night when the AP GENCO officials started releasing water to meet the irrigation needs of Krishna delta while setting aside the objections raised by Telangana Government.