Harish Rao Cleverly Twisted Lokesh’s Words

AP Minister Nara Lokesh stirred the hornet’s nest the other day with his comments on the Kaleshwaram Project.

He rubbished the objections of BRS leaders to the proposed Banakacherla Project.

“Banakacherla is a project planned with Surplus waters. It will lift the water only after it flows down from Telangana. If there is no surplus water one year, the project will be empty. It is not like we will puncture a hole in the Kaleshwaram Project and take their water. This is nothing but flaring up regional animosities,” Lokesh said.

“If we also behaved similarly, we would have protested over the Kaleshwaram Project. We should have fought with the Central Government. We always supported the welfare of the Telugu people in AP and Telangana. Kaleshwaram did not have the necessary permissions before the construction. We are capable of bringing permissions to Banakacherla as well,” he added.

Harish Rao today called for a press meet and said Kaleshwaram had all the necessary permissions.

He displayed a paper with eleven permissions and announced that the project is constructed with all permissions.

Harish Rao cleverly twisted Lokesh’s words.

Lokesh meant there are no permissions for Kaleshwaram before the start of construction. Also, he may have indirectly hinted that they would also start the project and later obtain permissions.

Coming to the Permissions of Kaleshwaram, two permissions – Environmental Clearance and Inter-State Permissions are vital for any project.

The National Green Tribunal (NGT) in October 2020 ruled that environmental clearances for the Kaleshwaram were not obtained before construction began, as required by law.

Instead, these clearances were granted by the Union Government after work had already started. The NGT clearly ruled that this is illegal. Hence, Lokesh is right.

And coming to the Inter-State Clearance, it became easy because KCR had a favorable Government in AP in the form of YS Jagan Mohan Reddy.

Jagan Mohan Reddy did not object Kaleshwaram Project and even attended the project inauguration.

Hence, the two vital permissions became easy for the then KCR Government.

But then, BRS is trying to use Banakacherla for its political benefit even though it is fully aware that the project will not have any impact on Telangana’s Water Availability.