Controversy on KRMB is for suitcases, sharing, says BJP

Hyderabad: The State BJP vice-president NVSS Prabhakar on Tuesday alleged that both the ruling Congress and BRS leaders have been trying to mislead people on sharing of the Krishna and Godavari river waters.

Addressing the media here, he alleged that both parties have been creating confusion on the Krishna River Management Board (KRMB), which was set up under the AP Re-organisation Act, as Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy and former CM K Chandrashekar Rao had demanded early implementation of the Act. Leaders of both parties had also raised the issue in and outside the Lok Sabha repeatedly. They included present Irrigation minister N Uttam Kumar Reddy who was a member of the House.

He alleged that KCR and his government had failed to submit relevant documents to KRMB for water sharing; the BRS government was always delayed and neglected to attend the board meetings. As a result the AP government had taken advantage.

Was it not KCR who had signed and accepted for 299 tmcft ?, the senior leader questioned. He said now both the Congress and BRS have been trying to blame the Centre. ‘After the Congress came to power in the State, leaders of both Congress and BRS have been indulging in levelling allegations and counter-allegations against each other on irrigation projects’.

Prabhakar alleged that the controversy on handing over the Nagarjunasagar and Srisailam projects to the KRMB is nothing but for “suitcases and sharing”. ‘Similar boards have been constituted for sharing of water of different rivers in various States. But neither there were disputes among States nor they compromised with interest of people. But the Congress and BRS never bothered to protect interest of farmers. Now both party leaders are enacting dramas, he alleged.

The party demanded an inquiry into the role of former minister KT Rama Rao as there were reports of large-scale irregularities in departments, Prabhakar said. Citing the arrest of an HMDA officer in disproportionate asset case (from whom the ACB recovered assets worth crores) he alleged that officers and BRS leaders who had close links with KTR have been facing serious allegations of financial irregularities in IT and Municipal Administration departments.

On a report that ex-mayor and former deputy mayor were planning to join the Congress party, Prabhakar expressed apprehension stating that were they joining to protect corrupt officers and leaders who were henchmen of KTR when he was minister or they wanted to strengthen the relations between the Congress and BRS?