Congress, BJP, MIM, CPI members target BRS on Krishna river water issue in Assembly

HYDERABAD

Floor leader of the All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) Akbaruddin Owaisi has asked the Congress Government not to expose the State’s interests in the matter of river water in the name of exposing the ‘misdeeds’ of Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) during its 10-year rule.

Participating in a short discussion on Krishna river water in the Assembly on Saturday, he said that irrespective of the party in power since the days of combined Andhra Pradesh, the irrigation sector was being misused for financial loot and burdening people with heavy debt. Telangana was being discriminated against in the Krishna Basin since 1956 and that continued even after formation of a separate State.

He noted that even the Congress legislators from Telangana had kept quiet when the then Chief Minister Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy had expanded the water drawal capacity of Pothireddypadu Head Regulator from 11,400 cusecs to 44,000 cusecs. However, more harm was done during the previous N. Chandrababu Naidu rule when he could not prevent Karnataka from increasing the height of Almatti Dam for the first time.

Further, Mr. Owaisi said that one contractor was dear to all governments and he was getting many contracts even now. He sought to know why no inquiry was being considered into it, when the government was ordering several others.

“The one (former Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao) who doesn’t come to the House is dictating the agenda and sadly his MLAs too have disappeared after he announced that he would come and speak,” he quipped.

‘AP should not harm’

Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) member Payal Shankar said that despite the claims of BRS and Congress on the development of the irrigation sector, the number of pumpsets had increased. He sought to know why the present government had failed to bring even one acre under irrigation afresh during the last two years. Minister for Legislative Affairs D. Sridhar Babu intervened and asked the BJP member to suggest their (BJP’s) friendly party government in Andhra Pradesh not to harm the rights of Telangana.

Congress members G. Madhusudan Reddy, J. Anirudh Reddy, K. Shankaraiah, T. Rammohan Reddy, V. Veeresham, B. Ilaiah, K. Narayan Reddy, Y. Srinivas Reddy, Ministers J. Krishna Rao and P. Srinivasa Reddy, and CPI member K. Sambasiva Rao also spoke and criticised the BRS Government for ‘neglecting’ the irrigation sector.