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New Indian Express

Resolve Telangana-Andhra Pradesh river water issues: Irrigation Minister Uttam to Centre

HYDERABAD:Irrigation Minister N Uttam Kumar Reddy on Monday demanded that the Union government intervene and resolve the pending problems between AP and Telangana in Krishna and Godavari river basins. He also sought funds for Telangana's Icchampally project on par with AP's Polavaram. In a letter to Jal Shakti Minister CR Patil, Uttam said that the Centre should also accord permissions to the pending irrigation projects. The irrigation minister said that Telangana has not received clearances for the Palamuru-Rangareddy Lift Irrigation Scheme and Dindi Lift Irrigation Scheme. The Centre should also recommend environmental clearances for these two projects, he demanded. Uttam said that due to the inordinate delay in construction of irrigation projects, the drought-hit farmers could not get the desired results on time. 'If these projects are accorded the required permissions, the state would get Union government grants, financial aid from NABARD and also loans from the financial institutions with lower interest rates,' Uttam explained in his letter. 'Telangana proposed to utilise 45 tmcft water, saved in minor irrigation components, for Palamuru-Rangareddy project,' Uttam said and added that another 45 tmcft was allocated to Palamuru, which Telangana got additionally above Nagarjunasagar, due to the diversion of Godavari waters to Krishna basin by AP. He recalled that the undivided AP received approval for Dindi LIS in 2007 and it also sent a proposal to the Prime Minister's Office, seeking national project status as well as assistance to mitigate the fluorosis problem.