Regional edge to water dispute
The resignation of the Congress MP from Nandyal gives a parochial twist to the management of water resources in the state and does not make Kiran Kumar Reddy's crown of thorns any lighter.
That Rayalaseema has been at the receiving end of water supply is quite well-known, but with the MP's resignation, the entire issue has taken a Rayalaseema- coastal Andhra colour.
The immediate trigger for S.P.Y Reddy's action was the release of Krishna water from Srisailam to farmers of the delta region in Andhra. The MP is reported to have met the Chief Minister to keep the release of water to the delta region on hold for some time so that KC Canal, SRBC and Telugu Ganga project in the Rayalaseema region could get inflows from the Potireddypadu project, which would have in turn got them from Srisailam in about a week's time.
MLAs belonging to the region are also agitated about the release of Krishna water to the downstream delta region as it is likely to affect interests of agriculturists in the Rayalaseema region. The release of water to the downstream delta region will benefit farmers from the Krishna, Guntur, Prakasham, Godavari districts and with S.P.Y. Reddy and others up in arms against the government decision, this will prove to be yet another vexatious problem for the government.
Reddy's contention was that the government had released water without the reservoir having attained the requisite level of 854 ft, whereas the level in the Srisailam reservoir stood at 839 ft .With other local MLAs from Kurnool and Panyam, as also party workers upping the ante and threatening to resign from the Assembly, this is yet another contentious issue for the beleaguered Chief Minister, who has already been under pressure from the TRS on the subject of sharing
With the power crisis adding to the woes of the Chief Minister to the extent that his own colleagues in the cabinet expressed their displeasure at a cabinet meeting, his party men from Telangana getting restless, his detractors eager to step into his shoes, this regional twist to the sharing of water resources by different regions in the state, opens one more front the embattled CM has to fight on.
