Telangana Excise Minister V Srinivas Goud today slammed the ministers of neighbouring Andhra Pradesh for their comments on the controversial issue of the distribution of the waters of the Krishna.
Speaking to the media in Mahabubnagar, the minister thundered that if the AP government had "any respect for the Telugu people", it needed to stop the construction of all its "illegal" irrigation projects.
"The Jagan regime needs to respect the people of both the Telugu states. As a mark of this respect, it should immediately stall all its projects that have not yet been given all the relevant sanctions and those that run counter to environmental and other guidelines. The AP government can continue the works of the projects once it gets all required permissions from the Krishna River Management Board and the Centre," he advised.
"During seven years of TRS rule in Telangana, the people of AP who reside in our state have faced no issues or problems. So, there is no need to fear that the current tensions between the two governments will affect the natives of AP residing in our state in any way. I believe that it is important that no false charges be made against us since this will only further worsen matters," Goud added.
(Perhaps this remark was prompted by the fact that AP Chief Minister Y S Jaganmohan Reddy had recently remarked, "I would have taken a much stronger stand on the water sharing issue already. However, I have not done so as many natives of AP are currently residing in Telangana. If I say too much about the Krishna water controversy, those people may have to
face the ire of those displeased by my remarks.")
Flaying the AP administration, Goud then continued, "There is a unilateral demand for Telangana to stop all power production at the Nagarjuna Sagar and Srisailam projects. However, this will not stop us from producing power at the projects or drawing the waters that are rightfully ours. We will follow every norm while doing so. Our CM, K Chandrashekar Rao, is ready to cooperate with AP. Our only demand has always been that we be allowed to draw our rightful share of the waters. The AP government should also cooperate with us to resolve the tensions over the waters of the Krishna. They should allow their projects to be inspected."