Water Fights Will Harm Both States' : Let's talk, KCR tells Naidu

Holding out an olive branch to his AP counterpart, CM Chandrasekhar Rao on Thursday invited Chandrababu Naidu for a dialogue for an amicable settlement of issues relating to sharing of river water by the two Telugu states. Speaking on the occasion of Telangana state formation day celebrations at HICC, Rao said hatred between neighbouring states would only prove detrimental. “When Telangana could reach out to Maharashtra on irrigation projects and convince Karnataka to release one tncft of water to the Jurala project, then talks can happen with AP too, provided the AP chief minister is receptive to the idea.“ Elaborating on the water situation in Telangana and AP, KCR said over 4200 tmcft of water is available for two states in Godavari and Krishna rivers. This, he said, was sufficient to irrigate more than four crore acres. “We are seeking water just to irrigate one crore acres, while AP can utilise rest of it and irrigate crores of acres. When this is the reality, where is the need to fight among ourselves?“ he sought to know. KCR said that he had explained the same to Naidu when he went to invite the AP CM for the Ayuta Chandi Yagam conducted last year. Telangana's irrigation projects are designed to stamp out drought by the year 2022. “Irrespective of rainfall amount, the state will be drought-free after 2022,“ he told the cheering audience. Dwelling on the state's fi nances, the chief minister said the growth rate of Telangana was better than the national average and the state's budget figure will touch Rs 5 lakh crore by 2024. Telangana will be power surplus in the next three years by enhancing the generation capacity to 24,000 MW. Pointing out that the state was providing uninterrupted power, Rao said, “Now, we have reached the stage where there is no need for generators and inverters.“ Governor ESL Narasimhan, in his address on the oc han, in his address on the occasion, showered praise on the TRS government. “In the past two years, there was no major law and order problem which shows that Telangana is in the safe hands,“ he said, adding “the government must strive to uplift people reeling under the poverty line, otherwise, development will not make any sense.“ Earlier in the day , addressing the formal state formation day celebrations at Parade Grounds, the CM recounted the various development and welfare programmes taken up by his government over the past two years. KCR said new districts will be created in a `scientific manner' and the whole exercise will be completed by Ugadi. KCR, along with the governor, honoured achievers from various fields, including literature, music, folk art and journalism. KCR also handed over job appointment orders to the kin of Telangana martyrs. (sOURCE- TOI)