Water Resources Minister Ambati Rambabu said on December 1 (Friday) that the Andhra Pradesh Government was forced to reclaim its territory at the Nagarjunasagar Project (NSP) that extends up to 13 gates on its side, in the early hours of November 30 as they were being illegally operated by Telangana for quite some time in blatant violation of the relevant provisions of the A.P. State Reorganisation Act, 2014.
What happened was deliberately reported by a section of the media as a confrontation, Mr. Rambabu said, insisting that the said reclamation and its timing were not intended to benefit any particular party that contested in the Telangana Assembly elections.
Addressing the media here, Mr. Rambabu said that the NSP was so divided between A.P. and Telangana after bifurcation that they could exercise control over 13 gates each of the total 26 gates.
However, Telangana had occupied the entire area due to the then Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu’s “failure” in protecting Andhra Pradesh’s right over the territory allotted to it by the Krishna River Management Board (KRMB).
Rather, it was because of Mr. Naidu that A.P. had to beg in February 2015 with the Telangana government to release 7,000 cusecs of water that rightfully belonged to it. “Andhra Pradesh has been at the mercy of Telangana to utilise its 66% share of the Krishna river water,” the Minister said.
As the controversy continued to rage, and water was desperately needed to be supplied for agriculture and drinking water purposes through the NSP right main canal to the combined Guntur and Prakasam districts, the government went ahead and took control of the area given to Andhra Pradesh at the time of bifurcation, Mr. Rambabu said.
On Thursday, the AP police personnel had sent away their Telangana counterparts peacefully without any scope for a skirmish, which reflected the government’s commitment to maintaining cordial relations with the neighbouring States. Andhra Pradesh could release 2,000 cusecs of water into the NSP right canal, he added.
Mr. Rambabu said Andhra Pradesh would go to any extent to protect its right over 66% share of the Krishna river water, and never interfere with Telangana’s right to utilise the balance 34%.
He pointed out that A.P. had agreed to the KRMB’s proposal to take over the NSP and Srisailam projects, but it was opposed by Telangana, which was drawing more water than the quantity allocated to it for electricity generation at the Srisailam left bank power house.
He further said that the Telangana police had their checkposts all over the NSP site, and officials of Andhra Pradesh had to seek their permission to enter A.P.’s territory.
Asked why the government moved to take back its territory on a day when Telangana went to polls, Mr. Rambabu said the only thing that mattered was whether or not A.P. had the right to reclaim the project area allotted to it.
“The YSR Congress Party has no political interests in Telangana as it is non-existent there,” he asserted, while seeking to know the reason for Mr. Naidu’s silence on the issue.
“The KRMB, or the Central Water Commission can inquire into Thursday’s incident. We are confident that we have not committed any mistake. Justice is on our side,” Mr. Rambabu added.
