Union Minister for Tourism and State BJP chief Kishan Reddy said on Thursday that he would be seeking the Centre’s intervention to ensure that the two major dams — Nagarjunasagar and Srisailam — be brought under the ambit of the Krishna River Management Board (KRMB).
“I am going to write a letter to the Centre following the condemnable incident at Nagarjunasagar dam where the AP police had tried to forcibly open the gates to let out water. It is not a good sign when the two States use police force instead of using the KRMB forum for discussions. We are not Taliban to do what we like,” he said while addressing a press conference.
The Minister claimed that the Centre had earlier proposed handing over the Nagarjunasagar dam to KRMB for equitable distribution of water among both Telugu States – Right Bank canal water to AP and Left Bank canal water to TS, with the CISF manning the security with the cost shared by both.
“The AP government has given consent but the Telangana government has not responded despite several letters being sent. No one can deny the demand for supplying drinking water but trying to force the issue without the KRMB’s consent is not right,” he added.
Mr. Kishan Reddy also felt that it could be a “political drama” by either of the ruling parties of TS and AP for serving their own respective selfish political interests. “Who is responsible for the fracas last night? We have become a laughing stock. Ultimately, we are all Indians, but we need to work with the mandated organisations through discussions,” he asserted.
The TS BJP president also accused the BRS of having resorted to “largescale violence” against partymen throughout the State in the last few days while there were efforts to rake up the ‘Telangana sentiment’ as part of Deeksha Day on Wednesday.
“The Congress too, had resorted to ‘below the belt’ criticism and shameless peddling of old photos to malign the image of Prime Minister Narendra Modi,” he said and thanked Mr. Modi, Home Minister Amit Shah and others for campaigning for the party. “Polling process has not been completed. We are expecting good results as we put in our best foot forward. We have gained good experience and we will learn from this,” he said.
Earlier, after casting his vote along with his family, the Minister said that in a democracy, a citizen has a right to question or criticise governments or even a public representative only when they vote during the elections.
