Ongole: Farmers demand inclusion of all projects in gazette notification
Farmers' leaders releasing the statistics of water being released to Prakasam district from Nagarjuna Sagar project at a press meet in Ongole on Monday
Ongole: The Union government is trying to control the Telugu States by utilising the Krishna water dispute, alleged Yerneni Nagendranath, State president of Raitanga Samakhya.
There might be a conspiracy by the Union government for not mentioning the Veligonda project in the approved projects list in the Gazette notification, suspected the vice-president of Kisan Sabha, Ravula Venkaiah.
They along with other farmers' leaders participated in the press meet here on Monday and demanded that Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy protect the interests of Prakasam district and also get assured water allocation to the Veligonda project.
Prakasam Zilla Abhivruddhi Vedika president Chunduri Rangarao presided over the press meet and said that the Krishna water allotments made by the Bachavat Tribunal are still under implementation, as the case on the Brijesh Kumar Tribunal is still pending in the court. He said that Telangana withdrew the complaint on the Brijesh Kumar Tribunal last month and its Chief Minister started to play against the interests of Andhra Pradesh for his political gains.
He said that the Chief Ministers of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana have already agreed to the project-wise allocations and the Andhra Pradesh State Reorganization Act protects the Veligonda and other projects for the water allocation.
He said that Telangana has wasted 26 TMS of water against the interests of Andhra Pradesh farmers.
He demanded Chief Ministers YS Jagan Mohan Reddy and K Chandrasekhar Rao to set their political interests aside and work for the benefit of people of both States.
Yerneni Nagendranath demanded the Union government to rectify the mistakes published in the Gazette notification. He demanded to know why the Telangana government or the Union government are not mentioning the illegal usage of the Krishna water by Maharashtra and Karnataka.
He also demanded to know how the Kaleswaram project is approved when the Veligonda project is in the unapproved list. He said that the upper states are utilizing the Krishna water as per their interests, but about 60000 acres of land in the Prakasam district in Andhra Pradesh is still waiting for water even after 60 years of Nagarjuna Sagar project completion.
Ravula Venkaiah said that the Union government is trying to take advantage of the disputes between Andhra Pradesh and Telangana and included 175 projects in the Gazette instead of addressing the major dispute.