'TDP, TRS govts. politicising Srisailam issue'

YSR Congress has said that both Telangana and Andhra Pradesh governments should shun politicizing the Srisailam waters issue and ensure that Rayalaseema is not parched in the race for one-upmanship and blame game. A delegation of the Party MLAs will visit the Srisailam reservoir to highlight the failures of both the government in safeguarding the interests of the arid region.

“TDP is responsible for issuing the GO reducing the water level from 854 MDDL to 834 and it is now trying to shift the blame and make an issue without looking in a realistic and holistic manner. The TRS government is also playing foul and both the Government are daggers drawn without showing any concern for the arid Rayalaseema region,” Party senior leader Dr MV Mysoora Reddy told reporters in Hyderabad on Friday.

The 854 mark is set in the design itself while building the project and Bachchawat Tribunal too has agreed to the same water level to be maintained. The expert Committee headed by Raja Rao, during NTR regime, has also given the same version while in 1996 it was the TDP government that has issued No 69 reducing the water level to 834.

Now the irrigation minister of Andhra Pradesh Government is raising a hue and cry on the issue, but he was the person, who did not allow the surplus waters to flow into Pothireddypadu project even as the flood waters were flowing into the sea, he said.
SRBC, KC Canal and drinking water to Madras city have the official sanction and both governments should sort out the issue without resorting to blame game and see that the arid Rayalaseema region gets the water.

Telananga irrigation minister T Harish Rao is mentioning the GOs one about the rectification and other two which only speak of the administrative sanction to Galeru Nagari and the operation schedule of the project but it did not mention of decreasing the water level, he said.

The person who held dharna when the Rectification GO was issued is the irrigation minister of TDP government now and he is speaking in a different tone. The two governments should shun from making it a controversial issue and help in resolving the issue amicably, he said adding that both the governments should recognize that the water level should be maintained at 854 feet.

Due to heavy rains in the upstream Karnataka and Maharashtra regions, Srisailam water level rose and both the governments have indiscriminately went for hydel power generation and when the water level fell drastically they started playing the blame game.

Andhra Pradesh government has been raking up the Rayalaseema region while it was TDP government that should take the blame and ensure water to Rayalaseema. Water should be given to SRBC and KC Canal till December end as per the agreement, he said.