Amaravati (AP): The Andhra Pradesh assembly on Thursday witnessed noisy scenes over water sharing issues, while chief minister Jaganmohan Reddy took a jibe at the Leader of Opposition N Chandrababu Naidu asking him whether he was "rearing donkeys" when Telangana was building Kaleshwaram irrigation project.
The remark did not go well with the Telugu Desam Party members to which Reddy said it was only a colloquial proverb and there was nothing wrong with its usage.
Amid the noisy scenes, Reddy heaped praise on Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao for being magnanimous towards Andhra Pradesh in agreeing to share Godavari river waters that would help stabilise huge ayacut under Krishna.
The first day of Budget session was marked by the members of the ruling YSRCP and opposition TDP engaging in verbal duel over the issue of sharing of inter-state river waters.
In a sharp attack on Naidu, Reddy said Naidu in his capacity of being chief minister could not prevent the construction of either Almatti dam in Karnataka or Kaleshwaram in Telangana.
Citing statistics, Reddy said on an average 1100-1200 tmc ft of water flowed downstream from the upper riparian states (Maharashtra and Karnataka) in river Krishna in 47 years but it fell to just about 500-600 tmc ft in the last decade.
Explaining further, Reddy said of the four tributaries of Godavari, two are in Telangana and one that flows from Nasik has almost dried up, leaving Andhra Pradesh only with Sabari, which constitutes just 11 per cent of Godavari.
Noting that only 500 tmc ft water was coming from it, he said water doesn’t flow down from Telangana if they stop and stressed on the need for maintaining cordiality between states.
If an upper riparian states does something (to store water), we can’t do anything about it. When Telangana was building Kaleshwaram to lift 3 tmc ft of water, what could Chandrababu Naidu, as Chief Minister for five years, do to prevent it? Nobody could do anything, he said.
"I went for the inauguration only after the Kaleshwaram project was completed. When he was Chief Minister here and Telangana was building that project, I am asking, was Chandrababu rearing donkeys," Jagan said.
Reacting to this, Chandrababu Naidu said your age is almost equal to my (political) experience. This is a sensitive and hasty decisions are not good."
He recalled that Jagan when he was in the opposition had come out against the Kaleshwaram project and had even said AP and Telangana could become like India and Pakistan if the project was completed.
But now he is endorsing the project. Things will be fine when we are together but trouble starts if there is any strain in the relationship (between the two states), the opposition leader added.
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