Krishna Tribunal verdict: oppn cry foul, blame govt

All Opposition Party Leaders have expressed their strong displeasure over the Krishna Waters Dispute Tribunal award, which delivered its verdict on Thursday morning.

Expressing serious concern over the tribunal verdict, senior Telugu Desam Party leader K Yerrannaidu said the state, which was known as Annapurna, would turn into a desert soon.

He said that the judgment not only allowed the surplus waters to be shared by all the three States --Maharashtra, Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh -- and also granted Karnataka to raise the height of the controversial Almatti Dam from 519.60 meters to 524.265 meters, which was a severe blow to farm community.

Pinning the blame at the state government for not arguing the case strongly, Mr Yerrannaidu lamented that the state has got a raw deal in the verdict. He also accused the government of failing to protect the interests of state farmers.

Another TDP leader Dadi Veerabhadra Rao said the agriculture in the state would be completely affected due to the tribunal verdict. He said the lawyers appointed by the state government had not properly presented the case before the tribunal.

TDP leader Kadiam Srihari said the verdict would ground construction of seven irrigation projects -- Nettampadu, Galeru-Nagari, Kalwakurthy, Handri-Neva, Veligonda --on Krishna River.

He said that both the Central and State government should be held responsible for the goof-up.

CPI state secretary K Narayana expressed his displeasure over the sharing of surplus water among three states equally, which was once exclusive right of the state. Mr Narayana said that ‘going by all accounts, Karnataka seems to be greatly benefited at the cost of Andhra Pradesh.”

Meanwhile, Chief Minister N Kiran Kumar Reddy on Thursday reviewed the award of Krishna Water Dispute Tribunal at the Cabinet Meeting.

He is believed to have decided to appeal against the Tribunal award.