Amaravati, July 8 (IANS) Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister, N. Chandrababu Naidu, on Tuesday said that Telugu states should together utilise the river water which is going waste into the sea.

He said if Andhra Pradesh and Telangana work together to utilise the river water flowing into the sea, this would benefit farmers in both the states.

He was addressing a meeting of water consumers after opening four gates of the Srisailam dam across Krishna River. The dam is located on the Andhra Pradesh–Telangana border

The Chief Minister made the remarks in the wake of the controversy over the Godavari-Banakacherla project proposed to be taken up by Andhra Pradesh but opposed by the Telangana government.

The Central Environmental Expert Committee (EAC) recently refused to grant environmental clearance to the project in view of the objections raised by Telangana.

Telangana Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy and Irrigation Minister Uttam Kumar Reddy have written letters to the Centre not to approve the project.

The project aims to divert 200 TMC (thousand million cubic feet) of Godavari floodwater to irrigate 7.41 lakh acres, stabilise 22.58 lakh acres in Rayalaseema and south coastal districts, and supply industrial water.

CM Naidu maintains that the proposed project poses no harm to Telangana’s interests.

He stated last week that 2,000 TMC water of Godavari River is going waste into the sea and said that if this water is utilised it will benefit both the states.

At Tuesday’s event, CM Naidu stated that he was happy as for the first time the Srisailam dam has become full in the first week of July due to heavy inflows from upstream Karnataka and Maharashtra.

Srisailam dam’s crest gates 6, 7, 8, and 11 were lifted to release floodwaters downstream.

Naidu, who performed the traditional Jala Harathi ritual to honour the river goddess, noted that Srisailam is currently holding around 200 TMC of water, close to its gross storage capacity of 215.81 TMC.

Stating that the Krishna River is the lifeline of both the Telugu states, he said these inflows bring hope to farmers. He exuded confidence that with the release of water from Srisailam, the Nagarjuna Sagar Dam in Telangana will also receive sufficient inflows to support irrigation and drinking water needs.

The water level in Srisailam was reported at 881.6 feet, just short of its full reservoir level (FRL) of 885 feet.

The reservoir was receiving over 1.53 lakh cusecs of inflow, mainly from the Jurala project in Telangana and the Tungabhadra River in Karnataka.

Chandrababu Naidu reiterated that he was trying to transform Rayalseema into ‘Ratanala Seema’ by completing the irrigation projects. He described irrigation projects as modern temples.

–IANS

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