Telangana Finance Minister T Harish Rao today rebuked the Centre for allegedly "compounding" the state's longstanding feud with neighbouring Andhra Pradesh over the sharing of the waters in the Krishna basin.
Speaking after paying tributes to famed ideologue Professor K Jayashankar on the occasion of his birth anniversary at a program in Siddipet, the minister said, "Prof Jayashankar had dedicated his life to Telangana. Inspired by his ideals, we have struggled to, and have succeeded in, securing our rightful share of the Godavari waters. We will also succeed in getting our share of the Krishna waters soon, overcoming the hurdles posed by the uncooperative attitude of the Centre and the AP administration."
He then faulted the Centre for its "lackadaisical attitude" in addressing the matter, and also lashed out at the AP government for "escalating" the water row with its "sparring behaviour".
Taking a swing at the AP government, the leader censured it for "violating irrigation project norms", for constructing "illegal projects" in the Krishna basin, and for "looting" Telangana's share of water. He then lambasted the Centre for its "confusing attitude" towards the water sharing conflict.
"Though both the Centre and the AP government seem to have no real interest in resolving the water feud, Telangana will not give up. We will surely get our share of the Krishna waters through a legal fight and have already moved the Supreme Court for this. It is saddening to see that the Centre has been dragging its feet over taking a decision on the water feud and that the Jagan government has only been creating hurdles to the resolution of the issue. Despite all this, our state will get water at any cost," Rao asserted.
Recently, during a hearing on the feud at the Supreme Court, Chief Justice of India N V Ramana had
recused himself from the proceedings saying that he would not hear the dispute as he felt that he "belonged to both states".