Jagan Rebuts Naidu's Charges On Kaleshwaram

Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Y S Jaganmohan Reddy rebutted TDP chief Chandrababu Naidu's allegations in the Legislative Assembly on Thursday that the State government was mortgaging the interest of Andhra Pradesh to Telangana in its handling of the Kaleshwaram project.

The Chief Minister told the House that it was during Chandrababu Naidu's tenure as Chief Minister of undivided Andhra Pradesh that the Karnataka government had raised the height of the Almatti dam, thereby impacting the river water share of Andhra Pradesh. He asked what Naidu was doing then.

He also told Naidu and other members of the Opposition party that this was also the case with the Babli dam which Maharashtra had built. Naidu's efforts to fight for AP's share of water were hardly productive, he said.

Elaborating on Naidu's criticism of the Kaleshwaram project, Jagan reminded the house that the project was built during the TDP government's time, and if the former Chief Minister had any objections, he should have taken them up with the Chief Minister of Telangana, K Chandrashekar Rao, at that time.

The AP CM also reminded the TDP members including Naidu that close to 65% of the Godavari waters flowed into the Pranahita and Indrawati tributaries while Sabari in Andhra Pradesh got only 11%.

He said that there would be a bilateral agreement between the two States on the sharing of Godavari and Krishna waters which would see justice to both States. He said that if the two States could come to a cordial and harmonious understanding over the sharing of water resources, the people of both the States would benefit. He criticized Chandrababu Naidu for trying to politicise the issue needlessly.