YSRCP president and Andhra Pradesh CM Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy successfully silenced the opposition parties by announcing Rs 1 crore ex gratia for each of the kin of the 12 people who died of poisonous gas leak from LG Polymers at Visakhapatnam.
Now, even as the opposition parties are trying to raise other issues on the Vizag incident, Jagan scored more brownie points over them by announcing expansion of Pothireddypadu head regulator on Krishna river and construct a new Rayalaseema lift scheme to lift three tmc ft of water from Srisailam reservoir.
While the Telangana government led by K Chandrasekhar Rao is fretting and fuming at Jagan for taking up the projects on Krishna river without permission from Krishna river management board and the opposition parties in Telangana have launched the agitation against the project, the opposition in Andhra has nothing to politicise it.
So far, the TDP has not made any comment for or against Jagan’s plan to draw more water from Krishna. Even at the video conference held by TDP president N Chandrababu Naidu with his senior party leaders, the issue of Pothireddypadu has not been discussed seriously.
Naidu knows that any attempt to politicise the issue or make any adverse comments on the Pothireddypadu project would prove counterproductive for him and his party.
In fact, Naidu’s former colleague in the cabinet and senior leader Vadde Sobhanadreeshwar Rao issued a statement welcoming the Jagan government’s decision to enhance the capacity of Pothireddypadu.
He said lifting of 3 tmc of Krishna water from Sangameshwaram to Pothireddypadu main canal, from where it is taken to Galeru Nagaru and Srisailam Right Branch Canals, would go a long way in irrigation to Rayalaseema.
He, however, said Jagan should send the project proposals to Krishna River Management Board as per the AP Reorganisation Act and seek its approval.
“The project as such is not against the interests of Telangana and a boon to Rayalaseema,” he said.