Hyderabad/Amaravati: The ministers of Telangana and Andhra Pradesh were on Tuesday engaged in a war of words after Telangana Transport Minister Puvvada Ajay Kumar blamed the Polavaram multipurpose project in AP for delayed outflow in the Godavari river during the recent flooding, especially in the temple town of Bhadrachalam in Telangana.
"Earlier, Godavari flood flow used to have equal inflow and outflow. But this time, the outflow was slow. As we mentioned earlier, Telangana will see an uncomfortable situation due to the Polavaram project work," Ajay Kumar said.
He opined that the outflow was slow this time as the Andhra Pradesh government finished fixing the gates of the Polavaram project and also the water levels may have been retained in those seven mandals, which were transferred to the neighbouring state from Telangana in 2014. There is a chance that once the Polavaram project is completed, water levels at Bhadrachalam will permanently remain 45.5 ft. "So, earlier also we demanded that the height of the Polavaram project has to be reduced," he recalled.
The minister said Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao assured them that he would send a team of experts to suggest the measures to be taken on a permanent basis to strengthen the bunds along the Godavari river so that the temple town is safeguarded. He spoke to reporters about the relief measures initiated by his government after the heavy rains and thanked CM Rao for announcing Rs 1,000 crore towards flood-relief measures.
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Reacting to Ajay Kumar's suggestion that Polavaram was the cause for excess flood in the Godavari at upstream Bhadrachalam, AP Water Resources Minister Ambati Rambabu wondered how the project could be the cause of flooding in the temple town. "The Centre has granted all permissions for Polavaram after all surveys. The Centre merged seven mandals from Telangana with AP because they faced the threat of submergence due to the multipurpose project. If we were to give back five villages, would you give us Bhadrachalam?" Rambabu asked Telangana.
Noting that floods were natural when there were heavy rains, Rambabu said Telangana could find out from the Central Water Commission if indeed Polavaram caused the inundation of villages in that state. "There are no disputes between AP and Telangana now. Please don't try to create new disputes. If there is any problem, Chief Ministers of the two states could sort that out," the AP Minister added.
Ruling YSR Congress spokesman Perni Venkataramaiah ridiculed the Telangana minister's claim and said the neighbouring state was ostensibly seeking to stoke passions as elections in that state were due soon. Responding to the AP minister's comments, Ajay Kumar in a statement said he favoured transferring five villages near Bhadrachalam to Telangana so that the Telangana government can take up the construction of bunds and others to address the problem of flooding.
Chief Minister Rao has recently announced Rs 1,000 crore to address the problem of flooding permanently, he said. He said there is nothing wrong with what he said, and the AP ministers should speak to their Chief Minister Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy to transfer the five villages to Telangana and find a permanent solution to the issue.
