Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao on Thursday said that when it comes to protecting the interests of agriculture and farmers in Telangana State, he would not mind even fighting with God. On Thursday, KCR had a brief discussion with the senior officials about the strategy to be adopted for the Apex Council meeting that is scheduled on October 6.
He said the Telangana statehood movement was interlinked with the water issue and the farmers in Telangana stood first among others in getting high yields. Stating that Telangana had become the granary of the country, he said there is a festive atmosphere in the agriculture sector.
KCR further stated that by strengthening the irrigation sector and tapping river water, efforts are on to turn arid fields in Telangana into fertile lands.
Against this background, the rightful share of every drop of water from Godavari and Krishna rivers would be utilised optimally and without fail, he said. Telangana and Andhra Pradesh are presently at loggerheads over sharing of water from Krishna river, which runs along the border of both states.
KCR directed officials to put forth powerful arguments supported by all the required data. State Planning Commission Vice Chairman B Vinod Kumar, Government's Chief Advisor Sri Rajiv Sharma, CMO officials Narsing Rao, Bhoopal Reddy, Advisor (Irrigation) SK Joshi, Principal Secretary (Irrigation) Rajat Kumar, and others participated in the meeting.
The Chief Minister had on Sunday had asked officials to take the Union government to task during the Apex Council meeting and directed them to be firm in demanding that there should be absolute clarity on the allocation of water to Telangana.
"Andhra Pradesh is intentionally creating disputes on river water sharing. We have to give a befitting reply to the AP's arguments at the Apex Council meeting. Give an absolute clarity on issues so that the AP government will not raise the issues again in future," he said.
"Take the opportunity to expose the seven years delay caused by the Union government and its inactive role on the matter. Oppose and reject the attempts made to undermine the rights of Telangana people. Utilise the Apex Council meeting to tell the whole country about the facts," KCR added.
The row broke out between both states following Andhra government decision to to build the Rayalaseema Lift Irrigation Scheme (RLIS) which includes upgradation of Pothireddypadu head regulator canal system and other projects worth over Rs 7,000 crore aimed at drawing an additional quantity of six to eight TMCs (thousand million cubic feet) of water per day from the Srisailam reservoir on the Krishna river.
KCR claimed that the decision of YS Jagan Mohan Reddy led Andhra government was "unilateral" and affects the interests of Telangana, while the latter has defended the move stating that it is well within its rights to draw the water.
In the backdrop of heated developments, the issue reached the Apex Council which is led by the Union government to settle the dispute.