Hyderabad, Jan 5 Telangana Irrigation Minister N. Uttam Kumar Reddy on Monday categorically stated that the Telangana government will not never agree to the construction of the Polavaram-Nallamala Sagar link project by the Andhra Pradesh government, and will definitely stop it.
In an informal chat with media persons, he said that the Andhra Pradesh government's proposals are a clear violation of the Godavari Water Disputes Tribunal 1980 award and interstate water regulations.
He said the letter shown by former minister and Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) leader Harish Rao was only an internal communication sent by the Central Water Commission (CWC) for information purposes, and it does not in any way mean that it was approved by the CWC.
The minister dismissed the allegations made by BRS party leaders that ruling Congress party was trying to create confusion among the public regarding Telangana state's water rights.
He recalled that the Telangana state government had written letters to the Godavari River Management Board (GRMB), Polavaram Project Authority, Central Water Commission,
Union Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, and the Union Ministry of Jal Shakti, opposed the Polavaram-Nallamala project. He claimed that that all these institutions agreed with the Telangana government's stand.
He said that the letter written by the Central Water Commission to the state government on December 4 was a proof of this.
He stated that not only Telangana but also Maharashtra and Karnataka states are opposing this project.
The irrigation minister revealed that the state government is also pursuing legal action in the Supreme Court.
The government has appointed senior Supreme Court lawyer Abhishek Singhvi to protect the interests of the Telangana and present strong arguments.
However, he revealed that the arguments scheduled for today (January 5) have been postponed to next Monday, and Telangana has been advised to convert the writ petition into a suit petition and file it accordingly.
The minister stated that he would personally attend the arguments next Monday and would seek a stay order.
He added that in the next two days, they would hold another special meeting with the lawyers to formulate a strategy to protect the interests of Telangana.
The minister claimed that the state government, led by Chief Minister Revanth Reddy, has succeeded in halting the work on the Rayalaseema Lift Irrigation Project. He said the project was stopped only after the Congress party came to power.
On the claim by BRS leaders that the Rayalaseema Project was stopped by previous BRS government, Uttam Kumar Reddy asked why this was not revealed.
He accused BRS of miserably failing in water resource management during its 10-year-rule.
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