Amaravati, June 25 (IANS) Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu on Thursday called for interlinking Godavari and Cauvery rivers.

He said the interlinking of the two rivers will benefit Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, and Telangana.

He added that the Centre should take up interlinking of Godavari and Cauvery rivers as a national project.

Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu was addressing a public meeting following the inauguration of 33 new crest gates at the Tungabhadra dam at Hospete in Karnataka along with his Karnataka counterpart D.K. Shivakumar and Telangana counterpart A. Revanth Reddy.

He claimed that India is achieving rapid development under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

“India has achieved success through initiatives like ‘One Nation, One Grid’, as well as robust telecom and road networks. If the Ganga and Cauvery rivers are interlinked, India will become unstoppable.”

He said that rivers in Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh have already been interlinked through the Ken-Betwa project.

He praised the Union Jal Shakti Minister C.R. Paatil for playing a key role in bringing together the Chief Ministers of three states — Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and Telangana.

He said that the meeting of the Chief Ministers of Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, and Telangana under the leadership of Union Minister C.R. Paatil is a historic event.

“While we may be separate states, we are united as one nation. Today, under the leadership of Union Jal Shakti Minister C.R. Paatil, the Chief Ministers of three states met to discuss the interests of farmers in this region. This meeting will go down in history for the Southern states; let us work together to safeguard the interests of our farmers.”

Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu noted that the Tungabhadra Dam is vital, as it supplies water to farmers across three states and provides drinking water to the local population.

“When the 19th gate was washed away in 2024, we installed a stop-log gate; now, we have successfully replaced all 33 crest gates. The governments of Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka worked collaboratively on the gate replacement project, thereby restoring the Tungabhadra Dam and safeguarding the interests of the farmers,” he said.

He added that in 1983, the Prime Minister and four Chief Ministers had jointly decided to release 5 TMC of water to Tamil Nadu.

The Chief Minister said that due to the El Nino phenomenon, there is no inflow of water from upstream areas into the Tungabhadra and Almatti reservoirs.

“Water must be used very judiciously this year; hence, river interlinking would be highly beneficial. Let us first interlink rivers internally; inter-state river interlinking can be pursued subsequently,” he added.

–IANS

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