Krishna water dispute: TDP asks AP CM Jagan Reddy to take all-party delegation to PM Modi

In a new development on the Krishna River water dispute, Telugu Desam Party has urged Chief Minister YS Jaganmohan Reddy to take an all-party delegation from Andhra Pradesh to represent the state in the Krishna water dispute before Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

The TDP resolved that the CM should take the Andhra Pradesh delegation to Union Jal Shakti Minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat in order to make a strong plea for the protection of the Andhra Pradesh farmers' rights. 

The other demands of the TDP included the allocation of funds for the interlinking of rivers so as to ensure augmented irrigation and drinking water to Rayalaseema and North Andhra. 

Resettlement plans should be strictly implemented for the Adivasis and farmers facing submergence threat under projects. The storage levels in all the reservoirs should be increased. The pending works on the Muchumarri project should be completed. Water should be provided to all Rayalaseema projects.

The TDP's recommendations have come on a day when Andhra Pradesh CM accused the Krishna River Management Board of adopting a discriminatory attitude against the state and acting with a bias towards Telangana. CM Jagan Reddy has already written to the Prime Minister on July 1, urging him to restrain Telangana from ‘illegally’ drawing water for power generation.

These reactions from Andhra Pradesh have come in response to Telangana CM's high-level meeting on Saturday declaring that Telangana will now draw 50% of the water from the Krishna river water. Earlier, Telangana and Andhra Pradesh were sharing water in a 66:34 ratio. In the meeting, it was decided that Telangana would not recognize the works taken up by Andhra Pradesh under the Rayalaseema Lift Irrigation Scheme (RLIS) terming the projects ‘illegal’.

Escalating the matter further, both the states had deployed their security forces at the Nagarjuna Sagar and other common projects to prevent disruption of power generation and to safeguard the powerhouse. 

The fresh row over the Krishna River dispute saw Telangana taking strong exception to the Rayalaseema lift irrigation scheme and other projects taken up, allegedly illegally by Andhra Pradesh, and the Telangana ministers attacking YS Rajasekhara Reddy, former Chief Minister of undivided Andhra Pradesh and father of incumbent Andhra CM Jagan Mohan Reddy, for his alleged anti-Telangana stance.