Uttam Says BRS Owes an Apology on Krishna Water Sharing

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Uttam Says BRS Owes an Apology on Krishna Water Sharing

Hyderabad: Irrigation minister N. Uttam Kumar Reddy on Friday slammed the BRS and former irrigation minister T. Harish Rao for claiming that credit for Thursday’s orders from the Krishna Water Disputes Tribunal-II should go to then former Chief Minister K. Chandrashekar Rao.In a statement, Uttam Kumar Reddy said it was the BRS government which for ten years betrayed the state’s interests on Krishna waters. Now that the Congress government had managed to achieve significant progress in the process in favour of Telangana, the BRS was rushing to claim credit. Uttam Kemar Reddy said it was the Congress which from the beginning, fought for Telangana’s rightful share from Krishna based on the extent of the river’s basin in the state, and the ayacut. “It was the BRS government which in 2015 entered into an agreement with residuary AP on sharing the 811 tmc ft of water given to unified Andhra Pradesh by agreeing to take just 299 tmc ft and allowing AP to claim 512 tmc ft.” “This sowed the seeds for the injustice to Telangana on using Krishna’s waters and it was the BRS leaders who signed on this agreement,” Uttam Kumar Reddy said. He said the Congress government had insisted on Telangana getting 70 per cent share of the water and that it was also the Congress that pressurised the Centre on the river water sharing issue which finally saw Section 3 of the Inter-State River Waters Disputes Act, 1956 come to the fore as part of the new terms of reference issued by the BJP-led government at the Centre just ahead of the 2023 Assembly elections in the state. Uttam Kumar Reddy said the BRS government had failed to achieve conclusion to the river water sharing, despite the Centre extending the term of the Brijesh Kumar Tribunal (KWDT-II) several times. “Only after we came to power, we pressurised the Centre to move forward on the allocation,” he said. He said Chandrashekar Rao had remained a silent spectator while AP increased its capacity to take water from Srisailam reservoir through the Pothireddypadu project. “KCR also skipped the Apex Council meeting until AP completed the tender process for the Rayalaseema lift irrigation project. Was it also not KCR who declared that he will ensure that Godavari water will be taken to Rayalaseema region?” he asked. “Instead of apologising to the people of Telangana for BRS’ failures, Harish Rao is making false claims and he is also answerable on his own silence on all these issues as well as on AP’s Polavaram project taking Godavari water to Krishna river,” Uttam Kumar Reddy said.



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