Latest news with #RLIS
India Gazette
3 days ago
- Politics
- India Gazette
Telangana: BJP MP Arvind Dharmapuri terms Banakacherla's project meeting
Hyderabad (Telangana) [India], June 19 (ANI): BJP MP Arvind Dharmapuri has criticised the proposed meeting by Telangana Irrigation Minister Uttam Kumar Reddy on the Banakacherla project. He further highlighted the absence of communication between the Chief Ministers of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana on the issue. 'Banakacherla project is the Andhra Pradesh govt's proposal. The Centre has not received any major documentation yet. According to me, the Centre will go as per the CWC guidelines and the Godavari River Board. Till now, there is no correspondence between the CMs of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana on this. The meeting, called by Uttam Kumar Reddy, is a sheer eyewash. He has no clue about what Telangana wants, how the state will move forward if Telangana needs more water. We have info that Uttam Reddy is operating on KCR's orders,' he said. Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) MLC K Kavitha also voiced strong opposition to the Banakacherla project under the proposed Godavari-Cauvery river linking, alleging that it would deprive Telangana of its rightful share of river water and leave several districts in the state parched. She further criticised Telangana Chief Minister Revanth Reddy, claiming that he has failed to effectively intervene and stop the decision being made by the Central government. Speaking to ANI, K Kavitha said, 'In the proposed river linking project of Godavari-Cauvery, Telangana will lose its water share because now Andhra Pradesh CM Chandrababu Naidu is trying to change the linkage point from Telangana to the Andhra Pradesh region. We are severely objecting to it.' 'Unfortunately, Telangana CM Revanth Reddy is not able to effectively stop this decision being made by the Central government. If the linkage point is shifted to Andhra Pradesh, half of the Telangana districts will be left parched. We will lose rights to the Godavari river water in the future. We severely object to this particular river linkage project, which is under the name Banakacherla,' the BRS MLC stated. The Godavari-Banakacherla Link Scheme is a massive project proposed by the Andhra Pradesh Government at an estimated cost of Rs 80,112 crore. The plan involves diverting 200 TMC of water from the Godavari River at Polavaram to Rayalaseema through the Bollapalli reservoir and Banakacherla head regulator. The proposal seeks to interlink the Godavari, Krishna, and Penna rivers. In April, the Telangana government decided to approach the Supreme Court against two major river interlinking projects proposed by the Andhra Pradesh Government - the Godavari-Banakacherla Link Scheme and the Rayalaseema Lift Irrigation Scheme (RLIS), state Minister for Irrigation, Food and Civil Supplies, Uttam Kumar Reddy had said. (ANI)
Time of India
07-06-2025
- Politics
- Time of India
Uttam vows to fight for Telangana's fair share in Krishna waters
Hyderabad: Irrigation minister N on Friday said the Congress govt has been making every effort to stall the Andhra Pradesh govt from illegally utilising Krishna waters. He asserted that the state govt would go to any extent to protect Telangana's rights over river waters. Tired of too many ads? go ad free now Speaking about the Godavari-Banakcherla link scheme, under which the AP govt plans to divert the floodwaters from Godavari, the minister said Telangana govt wrote several letters to Union minister of Jal Shakti CR Patil and Union finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman, objecting to the neighbouring state's proposal. He said that the scheme violates the Godavari Water Disputes Tribunal (GWDT) tribunal award as well as the AP Reorganisation Act, 2014. He dismissed the allegations of the BRS that the state govt was not doing anything to stall the irrigation scheme. "The state govt received a letter from Jal Shakti minister CR Patil last week, who said the Andhra Pradesh govt has not yet submitted a detailed proposal for the Godavari-Banakacherla river linking scheme. He assured the Telangana govt that once the proposal is received from the AP govt, the Central Water Commission (CWC) would examine it in accordance with the existing guidelines, tribunal and inter-state agreements and various provisions of the AP Reorganisation Act 2014, and would take appropriate action," Uttam Kumar Reddy told reporters. He added that the Telangana govt had brought to the notice of the Centre by writing multiple letters that the AP govt was proceeding with calling tenders and awarding contracts for the project, thereby flouting several norms. He urged the Centre not to fund the project and appealed to BJP ministers and MPs from Telangana to cooperate with the state govt on the issue. The minister accused the BRS of doing injustice to Telangana by agreeing to a water-sharing agreement of 299 TMC for Telangana and 512 TMC for AP in Krishna river since 2015. Tired of too many ads? go ad free now "It was Congress govt that opposed it and has been asking for 700 TMC for Telangana," Uttam said. The minister further alleged that the BRS govt failed to stop the neighbouring state when it altered the scope of ongoing projects and proposed new schemes to divert the Krishna water. "While 727 TMC of water was utilised outside the Srisailam project during the previous Congress rule between 2004 and 2014, the diversion rose to over 1,250 TMC between 2014 and 2023, as per the official figures," Uttam Kumar Reddy said while giving the various schemes such as Pothireddypadu head regulator and other schemes. He accused the BRS govt of helping the Andhra Pradesh govt led by Jaganmohan Reddy earlier to take up the Rayalaseem Lift Irrigation Scheme (RLIS) and even asked the Centre to postpone the Apex council meeting to allow the AP to complete tendering process in 2020. The minister said that had the BRS govt not spent an additional Rs 68,000 crore on Kaleshwaram and instead allocated funds to other irrigation schemes, the state could have brought an additional 25 lakh acres under irrigation.
New Indian Express
02-06-2025
- Politics
- New Indian Express
Telangana asks Centre to direct AP to restore RLIS site to pre-DPR stage
HYDERABAD: Telangana irrigation officials on Sunday urged the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEF&CC) to direct the Andhra Pradesh government to immediately restore the Rayalaseema Lift Irrigation Scheme (RLIS) site to its pre-Detailed Project Report (DPR) stage. In a letter to the ministry, the officials also requested that either the MoEF&CC or the Krishna River Management Board (KRMB) monitor daily activities at the RLIS site and submit fortnightly compliance reports to the National Green Tribunal (NGT). They pointed out that the NGT had stayed construction work on RLIS and constituted a joint committee to assess the situation. However, the Andhra Pradesh government allegedly continued construction in violation of the NGT order. The Telangana officials recalled that the joint committee, in its March 2024 report to the NGT, noted that the project proponent had undertaken works beyond DPR preparation. Excavation was reportedly completed up to 14.14% for the approach channel and 87.03% for the pump house and related works, totalling 18.18% of the proposed excavation. 'Self-certification not applicable' Since the works exceeded the scope of DPR preparation, the officials argued that self-certification by the project proponent, as discussed in the EAC's 25th meeting, was not applicable. They urged that this clause be removed from the EAC recommendations and replaced with a site inspection report by a competent authority. Reiterating their demand, the Telangana officials called for immediate restoration of the RLIS site to its pre-DPR stage to safeguard the legitimate rights of Telangana in the Krishna basin.
