Telangana opposes Andhra Pradesh adding new illegal components to Veligonda project

HYDERABAD: The Engineer in Chief (ENC), Irrigation and Command Area Development Department C Muralidhar in a letter to the Krishna River Management Board (KRMB) urged it to restrict the Andhra Pradesh Government from adding new components to the Pula Subbaiah Veligonda project.

In his letter, the ENC mentioned that recent reports in media suggested that the Andhra Pradesh Government had sanctioned administrative approval for two Lift schemes under the Veligonda project by diverting Krishna water to outside the river basin without any appraisal by KRMB and approval of the apex council.

Adding that Chief Minister of Telangana K Chandrashekhar Rao had already opposed the illegal and unauthorised diversions to the outside basin and requested the Union Minster for Jal Shakti to take immediate and effective action to stop the diversion of Krishna waters through Srisailam reservoir. Further, during the second apex council meeting the Union Minister stated that inter-basin transfer of water could be done only after fulfilling the needs of the in-basin first.

The Minister in his letter directed Andhra Pradesh not to go ahead with any of the activities of awarding, construction and implementation of new projects until the Detailed Project Reports (DPR) were appraised and approved by the KRMB and apex council.

The ENC pointed out that the taking up of surplus-based projects including Veligonda would be detrimental to the interests of Projects of Telangana that were meant to serve acute drought-prone and fluoride-affected areas in, in-basin areas apart from the settled ayacuts of Nagarjuna Sagar Project command downstream of Srisailam Project and drinking water needs of Hyderabad City.

Telangana Government mentioned that more than 85 percent of the cultivable area in erstwhile Mahabubnagar and Rangareddy districts was without assured water supply.