Telangana must draw more Godavari water: CM KCR

Chief Minister K Chandrashekhar Rao on Monday said the State government will soon set up an experts committee to formally pursue the Centre for the allocation of 650 tmc of surplus Godavari water in addition to the allocated 950 tmc.

Stressing on the need for drawing more water from the Godavari for drinking and irrigation purposes of the State, the Chief Minister said Telangana with a 500-km-long basin of the river had every possibility to utilise the water for the State’s development.

Looking at the plans of other States to link the Godavari with the Cauvery, Telangana has to consider full utilisation of its rights with regards to the Godavari water, as the water in the Krishna is dwindling day by day,” he said. While making it clear that he was not in a confrontational mood on the recent GO issued by the Andhra Pradesh government proposing to lift water from the Srisailam reservoir, he said the State did not want anything more than the allocations made to the region in united Andhra Pradesh as per law.

Advising the AP government not to resort to confrontation with Telangana over water, he said he had met the Chief Minister of Maharashtra several times to convince him on the submergence issue of the Kaleshwaram project. “I am straight forward and have no two minds on any issue. I have told the AP Chief Minister that this is the way to go as there is surplus water in the Godavari, which is going waste into the sea. So, I offered that both



States can benefit by putting the Godavari water to use,” Chief Minister said.

However, if the neighbouring State doesn’t want to have a dialogue with Telangana and take unilateral decisions, he said the State was fully equipped to counter such claims. “I will take up the fight and will not compromise on protecting the interests of the people of Telangana,” he said.

Criticising the opposition parties for alleging that the government had surrendered the interests of the State to AP, he said that he was very clear in offering the lower-riparian State the Godavari water to save the Rayalaseema region. “Yes, I have said that. Can anyone say that Rayalaseema should not benefit from the Godavari water that would otherwise flow into the sea?” he asked.

He also pointed out that confrontational politics would not yield any benefits. “The erstwhile Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh who was challenging the newborn State on river-water sharing agreed to Telangana’s point of view at the Apex Council meeting,” he said, adding that the opposition, by criticising a person like him with immense knowledge of river-water sharing, was making a fool of itself. “It is behaving like a “Nadan Dushman” (Innocent enemy),” the Chief Minister said. He asked the State unit of the Congress to recall who fought against Pothireddypadu Head Regulator and who carried the bags of leaders from Andhra Pradesh.