Hyderabad (Telangana) [India], June 19 : Telangana Chief Minister Revanth Reddy held an all-party meeting with Irrigation Minister Uttam Kumar and Union Minister Kishan Reddy regarding the Godavari-Banakacherla Water Project.
CM Revanth Reddy targeted former CM K Chandrashekar Rao and opposed the Godavari-Banakacherla Project.
Addressing a press conference on Wednesday, Telangana Chief Minister Revanth Reddy exposed the former BRS Government's dole of Godavari waters to Andhra Pradesh.
He made public the recorded evidence that established the facts about the arrangement entered into by both governments after protracted deliberations between then Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao and then Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy.
According to a press release by Telangana CMO, CM Revanth Reddy launched a scathing attack on the erstwhile KCR Government for pledging the river water interests of Telangana to Andhra Pradesh voluntarily.
The Chief Minister will be leading an all-party delegation to New Delhi to meet the Union Minister for Water Resources to voice the serious objection of Telangana over the proposed Banakacherla project by the Government of Andhra Pradesh which would cause an irrevocable loss to the interests of Telangana.
Addressing media persons soon after an all-party meeting, convened by him here on Wednesday, the Chief Minister narrated the sequence of the events that led to the agreements that were completely detrimental to the interest of Telangana.
He exposed how KCR had vowed to convert "Rayalaseema into Ratanala Seema (land of gems)" by letting Godavari water into the basins of the Krishna and Penna, at the expense of Telangana's interests, the press release said.
When N Chandrababu Naidu was the Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh in 2016, KCR, in his capacity as the Chief Minister of Telangana, compromised the interests of our people and state pulled by proposing at the Apex Council meeting that there was an excess water available to an extent of 3,000 tmc feet in the Godavari of which 1,000 tmc ft was going to waste into the Bay of Bengal.
Launching an attack on the KCR Government, Revanth Reddy said that the BRS leaders were unhesitatingly propagating blatant lies for political gains.
"I want to explain how they had spoken while in government and how they twisted it after losing power," he said, adding that they were lying through their teeth to revive their plummeting party fortunes either by hook or by crook, attempting to stoke false narratives.
As per the official statement by Telangana CMO, when the Congress was in power between 2004 and 2009, "we built irrigation projects to relieve farmers of their hardships. Though KCR and former Irrigation Minister Harish Rao had cooperated with the government back then, with complete understanding and even offered suggestions. We agreed to accommodate their inputs. However, they are now resorting to mudslinging on us with malicious intention and dubious objective of deriving political mileage."
Quoting from the eight-page minutes of the Apex Council meeting held under the chairmanship of Prime Minister Narendra Modi on September 21, 2016 at Shram Shakti Bhawan in the national capital, Revanth Reddy said, "KCR proposed to divert 3,000 TMC feet of Godavari waters belonging to Telangana, saying they were going wastefully into the sea to Rayalaseema."
The very foundation for the idea of supplying water to Rayalaseema was laid in that meeting. This project, however, got delayed either due to political reasons or lack of compatibility and camaraderie between Chandrababu Naidu and KCR until 2019.
According to the press release, he added that things took a turn after YS Jagan Mohan Reddy became the Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh for the first time and KCR got a renewed term in Telangana.
KCR had held four rounds of meetings with Jagan and decided to transfer water to Rayalaseema. Details of the deliberations between the two governments were explained to the media by the then ministers Eatala Rajender and Buggana Rajendranath Reddy at a press conference. KCR had declared at that time: "We will transform Rayalaseema into Ratnala Seema (Land of Gems."
Revanth Reddy said that Andhra Pradesh was now moving ahead with the project based on discussions that happened between KCR and Chandrababu Naidu in 2016 on the Godavari-Banakacherla issue.
KCR stated back then, "There are no basins or solutions." AP wasn't pursuing a 200 TMC project--it's for 300 TMC. "KCR had agreed that Andhra Pradesh could take even up to 400 TMC."
The Chief Minister said: "We don't want to join the issue and engage in arguments. So, we appealed to the Union Water Resources Ministry, asserting Telangana would never compromise on its interests and let go of its natural resources. Our government has never shied away from its primary responsibility of protecting the interests of Telangana, come what may.
"BRS never worked for Telangana. The interests of the State were never a priority for them. They did not complete a single project in districts like Palamuru. In 10 years, they failed to finish even one pending project," Reddy said.
The Godavari-Banakacherla Link Scheme is a massive project proposed by the Andhra Pradesh Government at an estimated cost of Rs 80,112 crore. The plan involves diverting 200 TMC of water from the Godavari River at Polavaram to Rayalaseema through the Bollapalli reservoir and Banakacherla head regulator. The proposal seeks to interlink the Godavari, Krishna, and Penna rivers.