SOURCE :- SIASAT NEWS
Hyderabad: Former minister and senior BRS leader T Harish Rao on Friday, August 7, wrote to Union Minister for Jal Shakti C.R. Patil, seeking his intervention in protecting Telangana’s “legitimate water rights”.
Sharing the letter on X, Rao wrote: “I am requesting the Union Government to direct the Godavari River Management Board (GMRB) to withdraw Agenda Items 18.3.1, 18.3.6 and 18.3.11, which seek to reopen and review statutory approvals already granted to key Telangana irrigation projects. These approvals were accorded by the Ministry of Jal Shakti.”
In his letter, he said the agenda seeks reconsideration of approvals granted to key Telangana irrigation projects such as Kaleshwaram, Choutupally Hanumantha Reddy, Mukteshwaram, Chanaka-Korata (Rudha), Modikuntavagu, Kadem-Gudem, and the Sitarama Lift Irrigation Scheme, all of which underwent the prescribed statutory appraisal process before receiving approval.
He added that the GRMB “is an implementing and coordinating body… It is neither an appellate authority over the Central Water Commission nor a supervisory authority over the Ministry.”
Allowing the GRMB to revisit decisions already taken by the Ministry would undermine the authority of the Central government’s own technical institutions and set a dangerous precedent, he said. Such a precedent, he said, would adversely affect irrigation development, drinking water security, and the livelihoods of millions of farmers in Telangana.
SOURCE : SIASAT
