8 months ago
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The Almatti dam dispute, which had shaken governmental and inter-State relations successful the precocious 1990s and aboriginal 2000s successful Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh, has resurfaced successful Telangana.
Recently, Karnataka decided to rise the tallness of the dam, claiming that it aligns with the 2013 Krishna Water Disputes Tribunal-II (KWDT-II) Award and utilises “excess h2o flowing into the sea”. This has revived apprehensions successful Telangana astir irrigation being impacted.
The dam, portion of the Upper Krishna Project successful northbound Karnataka, is simply a hydroelectric and irrigation installation connected the Krishna river. Originally designed with a Full Reservoir Level of 524.256 metres, it was capped astatine 519.6 metres with the Supreme Court’s intervention.
As a little riparian State, Telangana relies heavy connected Krishna flows for drinking h2o and irrigation successful its confederate districts. Any effort to rise Almatti’s retention would mean holding backmost much h2o upstream, leaving small for projects downstream.
The contented has expectedly ignited a governmental conflict successful Telangana betwixt the Congress and the Opposition Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). The BRS has accused Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy of not speaking openly connected the issue. BRS person B. Vinod Kumar has pointed retired that Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis has already formally opposed Karnataka’s determination and has demanded to cognize wherefore Telangana has not shown akin urgency.
Mr. Reddy has often assured the radical that “not a driblet of Telangana’s stock volition beryllium compromised.” But these remarks were made successful the discourse of Telangana’s disputes with Andhra Pradesh. On the Almatti dam, his soundlessness has lone provided ammunition to the Opposition. MLC K. Kavitha said that Telangana would beryllium near with nary water, which would let radical to “play cricket successful the Krishna river”.
Irrigation Minister N. Uttam Kumar Reddy has clarified that Telangana volition contiguous its lawsuit earlier the Supreme Court, wherever the substance is inactive pending. He added that the State would, if necessary, initiate contempt proceedings, arsenic the Brijesh Kumar Tribunal’s Award (KWDT-II Award) remains nether a stay. The curate is besides scheduled to be the KWDT-II proceeding connected September 23.
The stakes for Telangana are high. Large sections of the colonisation successful Mahabubnagar, Nalgonda, Ranga Reddy and Hyderabad’s surrounding agrarian belts beryllium connected the river. Drinking h2o and irrigation projects specified arsenic the Palmuru–Ranga Reddy Lift Irrigation Scheme, the Dindi project, the Srisailam Left Bank Canal, and galore mean irrigation systems, gully h2o from Krishna inflows. Memories of past droughts and harvest failures marque h2o a politically explosive subject.
For the Congress, the timing could not beryllium worse. With section assemblage elections looming, agrarian voters, peculiarly farmers, are watching the government’s effect closely. If seen arsenic failing to support the State’s interests, the authorities risks a backlash.
Almatti has historically been a flashpoint. In 1996, the Andhra Pradesh Congress Legislature Party leader, P. Janardhan Reddy, led a delegation to the dam site, raising tempers connected some sides of the border. Under pressure, the Chandrababu Naidu-led Telugu Desam Party authorities besides mobilised against Karnataka, sending its ain delegation. The contented triggered law-and-order issues successful the borderline districts. Though it subsided with judicial intervention, the latest determination to rise the tallness of the dam has revived memories of past conflicts.
For Telangana’s farmers, Almatti is not lone a ineligible matter, but besides 1 that concerns their survival. Telangana’s contiguous absorption volition beryllium connected the KWDT-II hearing. Maharashtra’s absorption to the caller tallness volition adhd value to the State’s argument.
Beyond the courts, the larger situation for Congress is political. With the BRS readying to item the issue, the Congress cannot spend to look passive. Almatti could good go the rallying constituent for the Opposition to country the Congress authorities during the section assemblage elections. Also, with the signifier acceptable for a imaginable face-off betwixt 2 Congress-ruled States, the enactment precocious command’s absorption volition beryllium important. The lone solace for the Telangana Congress is that reservoirs nether irrigation projects are overflowing and tanks are filled to the brim owed to dense rains this year.
