Financial Daily from THE HINDU group of publications
Saturday, Sep 21, 2002
Financial Daily from THE HINDU group of publications Saturday, Sep 21, 2002 |
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Industry & Economy
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Natural Calamities AP drought situation alarming: Minister Our Bureau
VIJAYAWADA, Sept. 20 THE drought situation in Andhra Pradesh is getting worse by the day and the Government has almost given up hope of any improvement in the kharif season, as the south-west monsoon even in the retreat phase (September-October) is not yielding any substantial rainfall, the Major Irrigation Minister, Mr K. Srihari, has said. He told presspersons at Kanchikacharla in Krishna district on Friday that paddy had been transplanted only on 40 lakh acres in the State as against the usual 1 crore acres and even the dry, rain-fed crops such as cotton and maize would be badly affected, if the situation did not improve in the next fortnight. He said the Krishna basin was the worst-affected in the State and the position under the Godavari system was normal and it was slightly better under the Vamsadhara and Nagavali. Pennar delta was also badly hit. Mr Srihari accused the Karnataka Government for impounding Krishna waters at Almatti, as the command area under the project had not been developed yet and the water was of no use right now, "even though Karnataka has the legal right to impound the waters''. He said Karnataka's attitude towards the lower riparian States such as AP and Tamil Nadu was very unhelpful. "If Karnataka releases the water at Almatti the situation will improve substantially at Nagarjunasagar and subsequently the Krishna delta will also benefit. But we have no such hopes,'' he said. He said the Government would take all steps for the economic and optimum utilisation of Krishna waters and an all-party meeting would be convened soon on the issue. On the proposed Pulichintala balancing reservoir on the Krishna to stabilise the Krishna delta, he reiterated that the State Government was committed to the project. He appealed to all parties to rise above politics and regional interests and to pave way for a consensus on the construction of the project.
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