Hyderabad, October 12: The state government has reportedly taken a decision not to bring pressure on Maharahstra government on Babli in return for not raising objections to Pranahita Chevella project. Though there is no official word on the trade off, sources in the irrigation department said that the state government is of the view that pursuing the Babli project vigorously will only hamper the relations with the Maharashtra government and damage the prospects Pranahita-Chevella project for which the state government is making efforts for national status..
On completion, the Rs 40,000 crore Pranahita Chevella project will provide irrigation facilities to about 16.4 lakh acres of agricultural land in Telangana region. The state government is of the opinion that it would bring a major revolution in the economy of Telangana region and hence ignoring the Babli project in exchange for cooperation of the Maharashtra government for Pranahita-Chevella project. The state government has been opposing the Babli project only on the ground that Maharashtra is using water more than its allocation and also the construction of Babli project will result in less water to Sri Ram Sagar Project in Telangana region.
According to an official estimate, about 6,140 acres including 5,247 acres in Maharashtra and 893 acres in Andhra Pradesh will be submerged after construction of a barrage in Adilabad district as part of the Pranahita-Chevella project on Pranahita river. As per norms, the Maharashtra government should provide a ‘no objection’ certificate and the Andhra Pradesh government should pay compensation for the loss of Maharashtra. However, the Maharashtra government is not responding to the requests made by the state government to constitute a technical committee to finalise the extent of loss and fix the compensation to be paid. The reason is said to be that the Maharashtra government is angry over politicising Babli project issue which became an embarrassment for it at the national level.
Even major irrigation minister P Lakshmaiah hinted today that though the Maharashtra government is not saying anything in open, it is not happy over some political parties politicising the issue. Therefore it was not showing interest in helping the AP government with the Pranahita project. Lakshmaiah blamed TDP president N Chandrababu Naidu for the situation stating that the Maharashtra government’s anger was the result of the TDP’s Babli yatra. The minister evaded reply to the question as to whether the state government is willing to ignore the Babli issue in case Maharashtra is willing to cooperate in completion of Pranahita project. But he stated that only 260 TMCFT Godavari water including the water impounded in projects was available for irrigation and drinking water purposes during this kharif season, while 3,755 TMCFT water went into the sea.
–Agencies