A petition was filed in the Telangana High Court opposing the Andhra Pradesh government’s Rayalaseema Lift Irrigation Scheme.

The petitioners Vamsi Chand Reddy and Srinivas argued that the Jagan government was going ahead with the project despite the Krishna River Management Board directing the Andhra Pradesh government to stop Rayalaseema project work.

The petitioners contended that the AP government had called for tenders to execute the project despite the Krishna River Management Board directive and also Jal Shakti Minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat instructions not to do so.

The petitioners also brought to the notice of the court that the Telangana government took objection to the AP government’s administrative sanction to draw and utilise six to eight TMC of water per day from the Srisailam reservoir on Krishna River.

Three firms — Navayuga Engineering Company Ltd (NECL), a joint venture of SPML – NCC, and Max Infra (I) Ltd — filed their bids and the officials held the technical evaluation of the same on August 13.

Jal Shakti Minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat had recently written a letter advising the Chief Ministers of Telangana and Andhra Pradesh not to proceed with the construction of projects which have not been cleared by the agencies concerned such as the Central Water Commission (CWC).

Jagan shot back. In a letter to Shekhawat, Jagan clarified that that the Rayalaseema project is being built with the objective of using the water that Andhra Pradesh receives in the summer as per the Reorganization Act.

Jagmohan Reddy in response to the letter by Union Minister, Shekhawat regarding the new projects taken in Andhra Pradesh, the Chief Minister informed that “no” new project is taken up by the state government, Andhra Pradesh is drawing only the share allocated to the state in Krishna Water Disputes 1 (KWDT). Krishna River Management Board (KRMB) is implementing the same.

The Apex Council meeting scheduled to be held on August 25 was postponed after
Shekhawat was tested positive for Covid-19.