Telangana Will Be Back In SC Next Week to Stop AP: Uttam

Hyderabad: Irrigation minister N. Uttam Kumar Reddy on Monday said he will attend the next hearing in the Supreme Court on Telangana’s request seeking a direction from the Center not to grant any permission to Andhra Pradesh’s Polavaram-Nallamalasagar link project (PNLP) and another meeting will be held with lawyers representing Telangana in the next few days.

During an informal conversation with reporters in the Assembly, Uttam Kumar Reddy said when the issue came up in the top court on Monday: The court adjourned the hearing to next Monday and advised Telangana to file a writ petition instead of a writ petition. “We will ask the Supreme Court for a stay of execution again next Monday,” he said.

The minister said Telangana has opposed the PNLP on all platforms, including Godavari River Management Board (GRMB), Polavaram Project Authority, CWC, Union environment ministry and Union jal shakti ministry and the Centre, and alleged that the project violates the GWDT 1980 award and inter-state water rules. “They all agree with our point of view,” said Uttam Kumar Reddy. “We are going to court to get an order not to grant permission to AP for this project.”

He said that the letter referred to by BRS leader T. Harish Rao regarding the project was an internal communication of the Central Water Commission and not the CWC’s approval for the project. “CWC wrote to us on December 4 supporting our view. Not just Telangana, even Maharashtra and Karnataka are voicing strong objections to the project,” he said.

Uttam Kumar Reddy also said, “It was because of our pressure that the AP government stopped work on the Rayalaseema lift irrigation scheme.”