The Andhra Pradesh government received a jolt on Thursday for its ambitious plan of the construction of Rayalaseema Lift Irrigation Project (RLIP) on the foreshore of Srisailam reservoir on Krishna river.
The Krishna River Management Board (KRMB), constituted by the Centre under AP Reorganisation Act, 2014, on Thursday instructed the Andhra Pradesh government to stop Rayalaseema Lift Irrigation Scheme forthwith.
A letter to this effect was written by KRMB member Harikesh Meena Special Chief Secretary (Irrigation) of the AP government Adityanath Das.
The board also found fault with the state government for granting administrative sanctions to the construction of new projects on the Krishna river.
The board said the state government can’t go forward with the regard to construction of the projects without taking permission from the Central Water Commission (CWC).
The letter was apparently written following a complaint lodged by the Telangana government with the KRMB stating that proposed Rayalaseema Lift Irrigation Scheme to divert Krishna water from the Srisailam Project was in violation of the AP State Reorganisation Act.
The board made it clear that for any new projects, a Detailed Project Report (DPR) should be submitted to the CWC and permission should be taken from the Apex Committee.
The actions taken by the AP government, which are in violation of this procedure, would be viewed as violation of the Act, the KRMB said.
It may be mentioned that the Jagan Mohan Reddy government on Monday issued a notification inviting tenders for the construction of the RLIP, aimed at lifting 34,722 cusecs of water per day from Srisailam Reservoir on Krishna river from a depth of 800 feet.
The tenders worth Rs 3,278.18 crore were called for the construction of the project under Engineering, Procurement and Construction (EPC) basis within 30 months.
The last date for filing of tenders is August 10 and the technical and commercial bids would be opened on August 12 and 13.
“With the lowest bid taken as the benchmark, a reverse tendering process would be conducted on August 17 and the successful bidder would be finalsied by August 19,” the notification said.
