Naidu fails to get Vajpayee's assurance on Almatti issue

Naidu fails to get Vajpayee's assurance on Almatti issue
EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE

NEW DELHI, DEC 3: Telugu Desam Party chief and Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu failed to get any concrete assurance from Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee today about his state's demands on the Almatti Dam issue.

At a meeting with Naidu who was leading an all-party delegation this evening, Vajpayee said that there was no question of the Centre favouring either Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka or Maharashtra. Instead, he told the meeting that since the dispute was pending before the Supreme Court, the states should wait for the verdict.

Vajpayee told Naidu that he would be blamed if he was seen to be favouring Andhra Pradesh, as the TDP was propping up the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) Government at the Centre. He said that Karnataka Chief Minister S M Krishna, who had led a similar delegation some days ago, had also made complaints against Andhra Pradesh on the issue.

Naidu, who submitted a detailed memorandum to the Prime Minister, took exception to the Attorney-General'sattitude which appeared to be in favour of Karnataka.

The memorandum, while demanding that Stage II of Karnataka's project of the Almatti Dam not be allowed, accused the Centre of having overlooked the Andhra Pradesh's objections while granting sanctions/approvals and, "in principle", clearances to various schemes of Karnataka.

Raising the dam height in excess of the 512 feet would enable Karnataka to utilise over 400 TMC of Krishna river waters, which was far in excess of 173 TMC projected by the state.

"The proposed oversized capacity of Almatti reservoir will delay release of water downstream to Andhra Pradesh so substantially that it will virtually disrupt the agricultural system and power generation in Andhra Pradesh," the memorandum said.

It also complained that the belated affidavit filed by the Centre "does not fully disclose all the relevant facts" before the Supreme Court. The Centre had also failed to mention in the affidavit the numerous new unapproved projects taken up by Karnataka on theKrishna river.

Speaking to reporters after meeting the Prime Minister, Naidu said that it was the duty of the Centre to protect "our rights". "The Bachawat Tribunal gave its award in 1973 ... we have not violated it," he added.