Keen to settle its dispute with the Odisha government on the Vamsadhara issue, the state government has offered to provide 5 tmcft of water to the neighbouring state if it does not raise any objection to construction of a second reservoir on the river upstream of Heera.
Addressing mediapersons on Sunday, chief minister N.Kiran Kumar Reddy said the dispute with the Odisha government on Stage-II of Vamsadhara Phase-II can be settled through dialogue.
The state’s irrigation department proposed a second reservoir on the Vamsadhara to irrigate lands in Kotturu, Bhamini and Hiramandal areas. Odisha has objected to the project, saying that thousands of acres of land in that state will be submerged and people will lose livelihood. The central government has appointed a tribunal to settle the dispute.
Power plants: On agitations against power projects in the district, the chief minister said the state needed more power plants to meet the ever-increasing gap between power demand and supply. “The government will allow power plants to come up as industrialisation is unavoidable. Yet, it will provide all possible support to the affected people,” he said. On opposition parties’ agitation over lack of fire safety at NFCL, he said his government believed that the protests were politically motivated. Defending grant of lease for mining on the Kannedhara Hill, the chief minister said the inquiry found no conspiracy in the mining lease.
Welfare hostels: The chief minister said state-level senior officials would stay overnight at social welfare hostels to gain first-hand knowledge of the problems being faced by hostellers and to take immediate steps to resolve them.
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