NGT sore over AP's 'disdain' for its orders

Amaravati : The Chennai bench of the National Green Tribunal (NGT) on Monday examined the 'evidence' placed before it by the Telangana state government on the progress of works of Rayalaseema Lift Irrigation Scheme "illegally and without clearances" and wondered whether the Centre was hand in glove with the AP government in this regard.

The bench sought to know whether such disdain for its orders could be tolerated and whether it should initiate action against the officials for disregarding its directive.

Adjourning the case to August 27, the NGT bench remarked that it could take recourse to recommending action against the errant officials.

The bench had recently directed the Krishna River Management Board (KRMB) to send a team to inspect the ongoing works at the site of RLI. A three member team of the KRMB visited the site a couple of days ago and is preparing its report on the ongoing works.

The Telangana government had earlier said that if the AP Government continued to be non-cooperative with the KRMB team, it would extend full cooperation for the team members to conduct an aerial survey even.

The AP government has been maintaining that it had neither disregarded the NGT stipulations nor has flouted any conditions. It said that it was only in the process of preparing a detailed project report as sought by the Centre.

Both the states have entered into a new wordy duel over the project with AP claiming that the RLIS would help quench the thirst of the parched Rayalaseema lands while Telangana dubbing it as an illegal project.

The proposed RLIS is only one among the many disputed projects on KRMB and also the Godavari river undertaken by both the two governments.