SC Notice To Telangana On Palamuru, Dindi Projects

Even as Andhra Pradesh and Telangana continue to spar over river-water sharing, farmers from Andhra Pradesh today moved the Supreme Court against the Palamur - Ranga Reddy Lift Irrigation project in the Mahabubnagar district being taken up by the Telangana government.

Apparently the farmers, at the behest of the Andhra Pradesh government, filed a petition in the apex court seeking its intervention against the project.

With this, the much-awaited project aimed at irrigating about 10 lakh acres has taken a new turn.

In the petition, the farmers expressed concern that the Palamur project would result in heavy losses for them as the water resources in the State would go dry.

"Our irrigation interests will be hampered by the Telangana projects, and the court needs to take cognizance of the case," the farmers appealed.

Admitting the petition, the court directed the Telangana government to file a counter affidavit in four weeks, and posted the case to July 20, making it clear that it would hear final arguments on the same day.

It is pertinent to note that Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao had warned his AP counterpart Chandrababu Naidu of a fitting lesson if the latter came in the way of Telangana's irrigation projects. While Naidu admonished KCR stating that his State would not relent in its fight for its share of waters, the irrigation ministers of both the States have agreed to try to resolve the issue across the table.