2 days ago
Telangana raising unnecessary hue and cry over Banakacherla project, says Naidu
Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu stated that the objective of the Bankacherla project was to utilise the Godavari river water that was going waste into the sea and there was no reason for Telangana to raise a hue and cry about it. This was because Telangana was also using the Godavari flood water, he said, while pointing out that all the projects being constructed on the river except the Polavaram have no requisite clearances.
Reacting to the concerns raised by the Telangana government on the Godavari-Banakacherla project, at a press conference held by him on the preparations for the International Yoga Day event, at the Secretariat on Thursday, Mr. Naidu said a dispute between the two States was undesirable and noted that he never created a ruckus about the pending bilateral issues.
He said as the lower riparian State, Andhra Pradesh (A.P.) sought to transfer the Godavari water from one basin to another through the Banakacherla project, and the Polavaram project was sanctioned in compliance with the AP Reorganisation Act, 2014.
'When A.P. and Telangana had a dispute over the Krishna barrage, I took the initiative to amicably settle it by talking to the then Governor E.S.L. Narasimhan. I will not do things that will jeopardise the interests of the people of the Telugu-speaking States,' he asserted.
Status quo
Referring to the utilisation of the Krishna river water, Mr. Naidu stressed the need to maintain a status quo on the allocations previously made by the Krishna Waters Disputes Tribunal, till a new tribunal apportioned the river waters afresh.
He said he never objected to the Kaleshwaram project in Telangana and that if Telangana wanted legal sanctity to the utilisation of flood waters flowing into the sea, the two States ought to discuss the matter with the Centre.
'Why should the Telugu States fight over waters being used by both of them?' Mr. Naidu asked, suggesting that Telangana was free to utilise waters flowing waste into the sea. It was he who initiated projects like Devadula and Kalwakurthy in the unified State of A.P., he recalled.
