Andhra Pradesh: Shifting of KRMB office runs into rough weather
Shifting of KRMB office runs into rough weather
Amaravati: Shifting of the Krishna River Management Board office from Hyderabad to Andhra Pradesh created a controversy again with the latest decision of the State Government to locate the KRMB office at Visakhapatnam against its earlier decision to set up the office in Vijayawada.
Leaders of political parties and water-users associations are expressing objection over locating the KRMB office at Visakhapatnam.
Aditya Nath Das, the present Chief Secretary and former Special secretary of Water Resources department, wrote a letter to the Krishna River Management Board on December 25, 2020 stating that the Government of Andhra Pradesh have decided that the headquarters of KRMB would be stationed at Visakhapatnam city and instructed the engineer in-chief (irrigation) to search for a suitable accommodation in Visakhapatnam.
Earlier, former Chief Secretary Neelam Sawhney wrote a letter to secretary of Union Ministry of Jal Sakthi on June 26, 2020 requesting for shifting of the KRMB office to Vijayawada from Hyderabad.
CPI state secretary K Ramakrishna criticising the move of the state government to set up the KRMB office at Visakhapatnam stated that the office should be set up at Kurnool since it would benefit the Rayalaseema region and be convenient for both Andhra and Telangana states.
AP Water Users' Associations Federation president Alla Gopalakrishna Rao said as per the AP Bifurcation Act, the KRMB should be set up in Vijayawada. And the decision of shifting of KRMB office to AP was taken in an apex council meeting at Delhi on October 6 last year. He questioned how the state government will set up the KRMB office in Visakhapatnam, which was 400 kms away from the Krishna river basin. He warned of an agitation by the 'ayacutdars' of the Krishna river if the government fails to roll back the decision. The decision of the state government is nothing but deceiving farmers of Krishna, Guntur, Prakasam, West Godavari, Kurnool, Kadapa and Anantapur districts. AP state water-users federation general secretary P Ramanjaneya Raju also condemned the decision of the state government.