In yet another legal hurdle to YSR Congress party government in Andhra Pradesh led by chief minister Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy, the National Green Tribunal on Wednesday stayed the proposed expansion of Pothireddypadu head regulator and Rayalaseema lift irrigation scheme on Krishna river on the foreshore of Srisailam reservoir.
Acting on a petition filed by a farmer Srinivas from Narayanpet, an NGT bench headed by Justice Ramakrishnan conducted a hearing on the proposed projects and stayed the same.
The green tribunal appointed a committee comprising senior officials from four departments to make an environmental impact assessment of Pothireddypadu head regulator expansion and Rayalaseema lift scheme.
The committee comprises officials from Environment Ministry and Pollution Control Board, senior faculty from Indian Institute of Technology-Hyderabad and senior member of the Krishna River Management Board.
The tribunal asked the committee to submit its report in the next two months. Till then, it ordered the Jagan government not to take up any works on the proposed projects and schemes.
The Telangana government already lodged a complaint with the KRMB over Jagan government’s plan to expand Pothireddypadu and construct Rayalaseema lift scheme thereby drawing an additional six to eight mc ft of water from Krishna river every day.
The total project cost is around Rs 6,800 crore.