Secure Seema rights, CM urged

Kurnool: The bonhomie between Chief Ministers Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy and K. Chandrasekhar Rao is being viewed by farmers and leaders with trepidation as they feel that Telangana state wants AP to use more of Godavari water than dip into the river Krishna.

This could affect farmers in Rayalaseema, said Mr Byreddy Rajasekhar Reddy, who is fighting for farmers’ issues. “We don’t have water to drink, forget about irrigation needs. There is no green grass for our cattle which has led to mass transport of cattle to abbatoirs. Groundwater levels have plummeted.”

He said what was required now was an urgent solution to Krishna water issue than utilisation of Godavari water.

The Telangana state government wants to fix more telemetry systems on the Krishna to monitor drawing of water by AP. Sharing of Krishna water between Telangana and Rayalaseema could become a sore point. Telemetry systems have been placed at Muchumarri and Pothi-reddypadu head regulator.

Seema farmers are agitating against snooping on water utilization. The Telangana state government has for long been alleging that AP was drawing water without authorisation from the Srisailam dam via the Pothireddy-padu head regulator.

Mr Rajasekhar Reddy said the efficacy of telemetry systems was questionable and they did not have a positive outcome anywhere in the country/

He said that Telangana had been telling Krishna Water Tribunal that about 351 tmc ft of water from the Krishna basin was being transferred, as per statistics provided by the AP government, to command area fed by projects that are not part of the basin. The claim that Potireddypadu, Galeru-Nagari and Handri-Neeva are diverting water to non-basin areas is a patent lie, he said.

The TS government contends that the entire command area of the Nagarjunasagar Right Canal and even part of the Krishna delta is not part of the Krishna basin, he said.

Mr Rajasekhar Reddy sought to know how AP Chief Minister Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy would protect the interests of Rayalaseema. “It is appreciable that the two Chief Ministers are walking shoulder to shoulder. Let that work for the benefit of Rayalaseema from where Mr Jagan Mohan Reddy hails,” he said.