Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu and his Telangana counterpart K Chandrasekhar Rao would be here tomorrow to discuss sharing of Nagarjuna Sagar dam water following an unsavoury incident that saw policemen from both states involved in a scuffle today.
Naidu and Rao would hold the meeting in the presence of E S L Narasimhan, common Governor of both states, at Raj Bhavan in morning, a release from Rao’s office said tonight.
The breakthrough was achieved after Naidu spoke to Rao over phone and discussed the situation at Nagarjuna Sagar, it said, adding the latter expressed readiness to resolve the issue amicably.
Earlier, tension prevailed at the Nagarjuna Sagar dam with policemen from Telangana and Andhra Pradesh engaging in a fight at the site.
The dam is located between Guntur district of Andhra Pradesh state and Nalgonda district of Telangana.
The incident took place when both sides failed to reach an understanding on release of water, though talks were held between officials of irrigation and other departments.
“They (AP officials) are not listening to us. Entire dam is under the control of Superintending Engineer of Nagarjuna Sagar. They came with police and threatened that they would open gates. If there are issues they should sit and discuss.
Our police have shown restraint,” Nalgonda district Collector Satyanarayana Reddy told PTI.
He dismissed reports that some police personnel were injured. “It was just pushing from both the parties.”
Alleging that Andhra Pradesh had already used water in excess of its share, Telangana Irrigation Minister T Harish
Rao told reporters in Hyderabad that his government had to protect standing crops in Nalgonda and Khammam districts.
He, however, said the Telangana Government is ready to be accommodative in releasing the water, but Andhra has to first come out with a proposal on amount of water it needs.
Harish Rao said the Andhra Government is not ready to give such a proposal. “They are doing things the way they did
during united Andhra Pradesh.”
Meanwhile, the Andhra Pradesh government accused Telangana of indulging in “provocative” actions. Speaking in Vijayawada, Irrigation Minister D Umamaheswara Rao said Andhra Pradesh Government has already given letters (regarding the proposal) and he, himself, spoke to Harish Rao on the issue.
He said Andhra Pradesh is utilising water as per project-wise allocations made by Bachawat award (on share of
water). The minister alleged that stopping of water by Telangana badly hit crops in Guntur and Prakasam districts.
————-PTI