Rayalaseema activists condemn Buggana’s statement of TB Dam, seek answers for ‘water scarcity’

Rayalaseema activists condemn Buggana’s statement of TB Dam, seek answers for ‘water scarcity’

Taking strong exception to the statements made by Andhra Pradesh Finance Minister Buggana Rajendranath Reddy at Hospet in Karnataka that Chief Minister Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy’s administrative acumen had led to the generation of the highest amount of power from Tungabhadra Dam and the largest amount of water consumption, several water rights groups in the Rayalaseema region have questioned the water scarcity in the region. 

Describing the statements of the Finance Minister as the ‘lofty claims’, the Rayalaseema Saguneeti Sadhana Samithi and the Rayalaseema Steering Committee have asked the government must answer as to why the region is being deprived of irritation water if so much water is available in the TB Dam.

“Why are the tail-end farmers from Pulivendula, Tadipatri and Mylavaram Branch Canals of the Tungabhadra Right Bank High-Level Main Canal agitating over the scarce supply of supply of water?” they asked.

Rayalaseema Saaguneti Sadhana Samithi president Bojja Dasaratharami Reddy, during his inspection of the TB Dam, said people of Rayalseema region had been suffering due to lack of drinking and irrigation water and the ‘rulers (government and policy makers) were to be blamed for it.

“The Minister’s statement that the modernisation works of the HLC canal were in the tendering stage is a lie. The government issued G.O. No. 365 on August 7, 2020, banning the project for five years and the works were pre-closed,” he said.

The irrigation system in the region is in disarray, he alleged and asked why so much electricity was generated, when the Constitution, the Irrigation Commission of India, and the State Apportionment Act mandated that priority should be given to potable water, followed by irrigation.

“The rulers are doing great injustice to the region by neglecting irrigation and giving priority to power generation,” he said.