Hyderabad, Jan 4: YSR Congress Party General Secretary Gadikota Srikanth Reddy launched a scathing attack on Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu, for betraying Andhra Pradesh’s interests and deliberately pushing Rayalaseema towards a water crisis by stalling the Rayalaseema Lift Irrigation Project. Speaking to the media at his residence in Hyderabad, Srikanth Reddy said Chandrababu Naidu’s actions amounted to nothing short of writing a “death warrant” for Rayalaseema.
He said the truth behind the stalling of the project has now been exposed by Telangana Chief Minister Revanth Reddy, who stated on the floor of the Telangana Assembly that the Rayalaseema Lift Irrigation Project was stopped after Chandrababu Naidu personally intervened. Srikanth Reddy pointed out that Revanth Reddy even expressed readiness for an all-party fact-finding verification, clearly indicating that Chandrababu Naidu alone was responsible for halting a project that was crucial for Andhra Pradesh’s water security.
He rejected the claim that environmental clearances were the reason for stopping the project, asserting that all required permissions had already been obtained during the previous government. He stated that Chandrababu Naidu, driven by fear of his own cases and narrow self-interest, sacrificed the larger interests of Andhra Pradesh. He said that every time Chandrababu Naidu has been Chief Minister, the state has suffered on water issues, recalling his silence during the height increase of the Almatti dam earlier and his failure to effectively argue Andhra Pradesh’s case before the Brijesh Kumar Tribunal.
Srikanth Reddy explained that Srisailam is a joint project of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana, and that unchecked diversion of water by Telangana through lift irrigation schemes had already severely reduced water availability for Rayalaseema, Nellore and parts of coastal Andhra. He said the Rayalaseema Lift Irrigation Project, designed to draw up to 3 TMC of water per day, was initiated by former Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy precisely to protect Andhra Pradesh’s water rights and ensure drinking and irrigation water in drought-prone regions.
Srikanth Reddy called upon Rayalaseema MLAs to resign if they cannot stand up for the region’s interests. He warned that any attempt to turn Rayalaseema into a desert would be firmly resisted and asserted that YSRCP’s sole objective remains the protection of state interests and the immediate completion of the Rayalaseema Lift Irrigation Project.
Naidu betrayed Rayalaseema for personal gain: SV Mohan Reddy
