Ready to fight against Banakacharla Project from sadak to sansad: Telangana CM Revanth

Stating that no discussion was held on Andhra Pradesh’s controversial Banakacharla-Polavaram link project in the meeting between the two Telugu states convened by Union Jal Shakti Minister CR Patil in New Delhi on Wednesday, Telangana Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy warned of taking the protest against the project from street to Parliament.

Reddy met with his Andhra Pradesh counterpart N Chandrababu Naidu in the meeting after Telangana wrote to the Union minister to revise the agenda dropping the Banakacharla issue. However, AP Irrigation Minister Nimmala Ramanaidu claimed that a committee of technical and administrative officers would be set up to look into the Banakacharla issue. Following his statement, the Opposition BRS questioned Reddy’s claim that there was no discussion on the project.

Advertisement

However, Chief Minister Reddy claimed that there was no discussion on the Bankacharla project, adding that they were ready to oppose it tooth and nail. “If there is no way out after discussion, then we will think of fighting. We are ready to fight on the streets and in the Parliament as well (sadak se le kar sansad tak),” he said in his customary style after the meeting.

“This platform is meant for pending issues between Andhra Pradesh and Telangana. We have evolved a mechanism to identify issues and then we will make a decision,” he said, clarifying that the government of India played the role of a facilitator for the discussion between the two states without taking any sides.

Reddy said one of the allegations against Andhra Pradesh was that they were withdrawing more water than allocated to them, but now the neighbouring state has agreed to install the telemetry to monitor the withdrawal of water.

AP has also agreed to repair and maintain the Srisailam Dam, which is a joint project for the two states. The two states agreed to set up a committee with officials, engineers and technical experts to resolve the pending issues within a month.

The chief minister of Telangana said they have agreed to host the Godavari River Management Board, while AP will host the Krishna River Management Board.

Although Reddy claimed that the meeting was a success for Telangana, Naidu has been camping in the national capital, trying to convince the Centre about the importance of the project for Rayalaseema. However, the project is facing opposition within AP and even experts have spoken out against his ambitious river linking project. Naidu is keen to bring water to Rayalaseema by linking the Godavari River to the Krishna and Pennar through this ambitious project.