BRS hits back at Revanth on handover of Krishna project outlets

Harish Rao said the BRS government set conditions to prevent the river board from taking over projects.

hyderabad

Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) leader T.Harish Rao has criticised Telangana Chief Minister A.Revanth Reddy over his ‘lies’ on the issue of Krishna river waters and handing over of outlets based on Srisailam and Nagarjunasagar projects including the expansion of Pothireddypadu Head Regulator and Rayalaseema Lift Irrigation Project (RLIP).

Mr.Harish Rao on Sunday said that the BRS government that had prevented the Krishna River Management Board (KRMB) from taking over the management of projects and their outlets for nearly 10 years. But the Congress government undid the efforts of the previous government and handed over the projects in less than two months of coming to power, he alleged.

He said the BRS government set conditions to prevent the river board from taking over projects. The conditions included a 50% share in Krishna waters until the Krishna Water Disputes Tribunal (KWDT)-II decided the shares for Andhra Pradesh and Telangana; considering Srisailam as a hydro-electric project only, approved by the Planning Commission, accounting for only 20% of water drawal for drinking needs among others.

He stated that the move would severely impact the drinking water supply to Hyderabad city, as well as the drinking water and irrigation needs of the combined Khammam, Nalgonda and Mahabubnagar districts. On the issue of Pothireddypadu Head Regulator expansion, he said the BRS (earlier TRS) had come out of the Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy ogvernment in the State and Manmohan Singh government at the Centre before it was announced and taken up.

Similarly, it was due to the efforts of the BRS government that the National Green Tribunal (NGT) had stayed the RLIP planned by A.P. to siphon off huge quantity of water to outside the Krishna Basin areas. The BRS leader scoffed at Mr.Revanth Reddy’s claims that Mr.Chandrasekhar Rao was behind the drafting of the AP Reorganisation Act, which had provisions of handing over the projects. He said the CM had earlier stated that Congress leaders S.Jaipal Reddy and Jairam Ramesh had drafted the Bill with the provisions to protect Telangana’s interests.

Further, Mr. Harish Rao stated that BRS was ready for a debate in the Assembly to give a “mind-blocking” response to the Congress. He condemned the language used by Mr. Revanth Reddy and said it was unbecoming of the Chief Minister’s status.