ANDHRA PRADESH

                                             CPI(M), CPI Hold Joint Convention on Irrigation

                                                                                                                                             M Venugopala Rao

MIGRATION of people, farmers committing suicides, distressed people resorting to sale of their kidneys, starvation deaths, confiscation and auction of properties of the defaulting farmers… This is the picture today of the rural areas in Andhra Pradesh under the Chandrababu Naidu government, policies of which have pushed agriculture in the state to the brink of a crisis.

Instead of giving due importance to construction of irrigation projects, which are crucial for development of agriculture, the state government is wasting its expenditure on non-productive sectors. As a result till date only 40 per cent of agricultural land is being served under various water resources like canals, tanks, wells and lift irrigation schemes.  Not even a single irrigation project taken up during the regime of the Telugu Desam government could be completed in the state. Several projects taken up in Godavari and Krishna basins continue to be pending. On the other hand, the extent of irrigated land is getting decreased, as a result of water not reaching the tail end areas under canals and due to siltation in tanks. As an “alternative” to irrigation, the state government has been squandering thousands of crores of rupees on schemes under Neeru-Meeru (water and you) programme. By forming water users’ associations, the government is trying to shirk its responsibility to maintain water resources.

When the state government came to know through media reports about the disputable constructions in the upper riparian states, it has instead of trying to solve them through discussions with the concerned states or through bringing pressure on the central government, tried to whip up chauvinistic feelings among the people. After the Krishna Water Disputes Tribunal gave its award, permitting Andhra Pradesh to make use of the surplus water going waste into the sea, the state government failed to construct any projects to strengthen its claims for right to utilisation of surplus water during the last three decades. Now that the central government is going to appoint a new tribunal to look into the inter-state disputes on Krishna waters shortly, the government has brought up the issue of surplus waters for discussion, after loosing the opportunities to strengthen the case of Andhra Pradesh for utilisation of surplus waters.

Now, a new phase of intra-state disputes between people of different districts and areas is on in the state. The dispute between the people of Mahbubnagar and Kurnool districts on implementation of the Rajolibanda diversion scheme, conflict between people of Guntur and Prakasam districts on drinking water and water for irrigation and affecting ayacut of thousands of acres under Gajuladinne project in order to supply drinking water to Kurnool are a few examples. This is happening at a time when a large quantum of Godavari water is going waste into the sea; during the current season already nearly 1000 TMC ft of Godavari floodwater has wastefully flowed into the sea. Though there is a lot of scope for better management of water to raise crops utilising less water than what has been allocated, there is no effective system in the state to deal with this aspect.

It was against this background that the state committees of the CPI(M) and the CPI organised a state-level convention jointly on “Irrigation - Drinking Water Resources - Solutions” in Hyderabad on August 8. The above mentioned situation was explained in a resolution passed by the well-attended convention. Making several suggestions, the resolution clearly stated that solving the disputes and utilising the available river waters could avoid both drought and crisis in agriculture in the state.

Moving the resolution, S Sudhakar Reddy, state secretary of the CPI, made it clear that the convention was only a part of the attempts being made by the CPI and the CPI(M) to arrive at a consensus through several rounds of discussions to evolve a broader understanding covering the entire state and keeping in view the backward and drought-affected areas. Inviting further suggestions to enrich the resolution, he pointed out that many issues needed to be examined thoroughly. It was also decided to hold similar conventions at the district-level.

In the resolution it was suggested that inter-state disputes on river waters should be resolved by bringing pressure on the central government and through discussions. On intra-state allocation of waters, the convention suggested, among other things, adjustment of allocation of waters to backward areas and districts, keeping in view the imbalances already existing in distribution of water. It also suggested guaranteeing drinking water and irrigation at least to one irrigated dry crop to every district.

Koratala Satyanarayana, member of the Polit Bureau of the CPI(M), addressing the convention, made it clear that drought was only a partial reason for the present crisis situation and that the government was mainly responsible for failures in utilising the available river waters. He termed the Chandrababu Naidu government as the main accused for the present plight because it was mortgaging its policies to the World Bank and giving importance in spending funds for other sectors and unimportant programmes. When a state like Karnataka could spend about Rs 13,500 crore on irrigation projects and schemes to create irrigation potential to an extent of 16 lakh acres in five years, why could not the government of Andhra Pradesh do so, with its public debt mounting to about Rs 57,000 crore, asked Koratala. He charged that the chief minister, Chandrababu Naidu, without having clarity on the issues, was confusing the people.

Koratala suggested convening of an all-party meeting to discuss these issues so as to come to an understanding before finalising the approach to be adopted by the government before the new tribunal on Krishna water disputes. He also said that experts should be consulted. Expressing his party’s conformity with the views expressed in the resolution, Gade Venkata Reddy of the Congress stressed the need for an independent judicial authority to ensure proper distribution of Krishna waters among the riparian states on a pro rata basis. K Kotayya of CPI(ML) Unity Initiative and Sudhir of SUCI also addressed the convention, stressing the need for doing justice to all areas in the state in matters of distribution of water for drinking and irrigation. S Mallareddy, member of the state committee of the CPI(M) and K Nageswara Rao, member of the state secretariat of the CPI, presided over the meeting.  Earlier welcoming the gathering, B V Raghavulu, state secretary of the CPI(M), accused the government of not responding timely and  properly to the inter-state and intra-state water disputes. He said that some political parties were bent on provoking people of one district against those of another, instead of trying to solve the disputes amicably.