Tribunal verdict, a sad day for AP

Hyderabad, November 29, 2013: Terming the Brijesh
Kumar Tribunal verdict on Krishna water utilization as a sad day for irrigation
sector in the State, YSR Congress has demanded the State Government to move
Supreme Court to bring a stay, failing which the State will become a desert
with many of the projects planned on surplus waters will have to be shelved.
 

“The Tribunal calculating the allocation of water
based on 65 % dependability, instead of 75 %, has allocated surplus waters of
177 TMC water to Karnataka and 81 TMC to Maharashtra  leaving the lower
riparian state of Andhra Pradesh in the lurch,” party senior leader Dr MV
Mysoora Reddy told reporters here on Friday.

The Tribunal has increased the State share by just
4 TMC which is meager and it has rejected all the objections raised by the
State.

This allocation of surplus water to
Maharashtra and Karnataka means regularization of the
illegal projects constructed by the upper riparian states and our share will
further come down. The State Government has failed to put forward its view
point clearly and irrigation sector will be badly hit by this judgment.

The State should move Supreme Court and bring a
stay on the Tribunal verdict as many State projects depending on the surplus
water in Mahbubnagar, Nalgonda, Rayalaseema and Prakasam districts would be
badly affected and the prospects of Nettampadu, Handri Neva and other projects
stand in a quandary and they may be dried down, he said.

We are getting water only after the upper riparian
states’ needs are fulfilled and with this verdict, Almatti and Narayanpur will
get sanctity and the water flow into our State will be further reduced.
 Giving permission to raise the height of Almatti dam is a big blow for
the State

If the division takes place under these
circumstances, Srisailam and Nagarjuna Sagar will get absolutely no water with
one more state coming in between, he said.  

N Chandrababu Naidu has failed to play his part as
leader of opposition and the discrepancies took place while he was Chief
Minister.

Meanwhile, in separate press meet, Party MLA
Sreekanth Reddy said that the Brijesh Kumar Tribunal verdict is disappointing
and the future of irrigation projects on
Krishna surplus waters look bleak.

He blamed former Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu
for allowing Karnataka to build dams and barrages illegally though he was
playing a key role in national politics during 1997-2002.

Naidu did not pay any heed to irrigation sector and
did not take up the Galeru Nagari and other projects while YSR, who succeeded
him, has increased the budget for irrigation manifold and brought many projects
under Jalayagnam to make full utilization of
Krishna surplus waters.  

The sharing of
Krishna River waters has been taken up by our
Party President YS Jagan Mohan Reddy who protested in
Delhi. The division of the State will further
hamper the projects on
Krishna waters, he said
adding that TDP has been leveling false allegations only to cover up
Chandrababu Naidu’s mistakes.