Vijaywada (Andhra Pradesh): Over the last few days, Telangana and Andhra Pradesh have escalated their battle over the waters of the river Krishna. After both Andhra and Telangana police have deployed huge force at their respective sides of the Pulichintala project along the border, Andhra Pradesh's opposition Telugu Desam Party (TDP) has called the water dispute between the states a 'drama'.
TDP has also accused the YSRCP government of turning a blind eye towards the projects build by the Telangana government to the tune of 255 thousand million cubic feet (tmcft). Speaking to ANI TDP spokesperson K Pattabhiram said, "If Jagan Mohan claims to have high regards towards the Chief Minister of Telangana, so why cannot he go to Hyderabad to sort out the issue. Why do you have to play such drama?" Pattabhiram accused Telangana of illegally drawing 255 tmcft water by taking projects who don't have any permission from the Krishna River Management Board (KRMB) or Union Water Ministry.
Questioning the silence of the Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister over the issue, Pattabhiram said, "Not even once have you (Jagan Mohan) raised any questions on the unauthorised projects that are being built by the Telangana government to the tune of 255 tmc. Why are you silent? This is only a drama being played by both chief ministers to gain some political mileage."
"Because of this drama, the farmers of Andhra Pradesh are suffering and nothing is being done by Jagan Mohan. I demand Jagan Reddy take the issues to Gajendra Shekhawat," he said. Andhra and Telangana police have deployed a huge force at the Pulichintala project at their respective sides of the project along the border between the states on Saturday. Telangana started power generation at Pulichintala and released water downwards into Andhra Pradesh, compelling Andhra to drain that water into the Bay of Bengal through Prakasam barrage at Vijayawada.
The crux of the water dispute between the two States is the allegation by the Andhra Pradesh government that Telangana is drawing Krishna river water from the Srisailam, Nagarjuna Sagar and Pulichintala projects for hydel power generation without obtaining clearances from the KRMB. On the other hand, the Telangana government claims that KRMB has no right to stop power generation and it is generating Hydel power well within the law. At the time of bifurcation in 2014, 299 tmc water from Krishna River was allocated to Telangana and 511 tmc was allocated to Andhra Pradesh.
Read: Telangana-Andhra water row heats up
(ANI)
