The Prime Minister, Dr Manmohan Singh, will on Monday meet the Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister, Mr K. Rosaiah and Maharashtra Chief Minister, Mr Ashok Chavan, to find a solution to the dispute over Maharashtra’s construction of the Babli dam over the Godavari river in Andhra Pradesh’s Nanded district.
It has been reported that the Andhra Pradesh Government will urge the Centre to prevail upon Maharashtra to remove the gates erected on the Babli project in violation of the interim orders of the Supreme Court.
The Andhra Pradesh Government intends to bring to the notice of Dr Singh the "lame excuses" and "wrong information" being furnished by Maharashtra, which was going ahead with the construction of Babli and 15 more "illegal projects" across the Godavari, ignoring the orders of the Central Water Commission, Central Government and the apex court.
Earlier on Sunday, Mr Rosaiah convened an all-party meeting in Hyderabad over the issue. Telugu Desam Party (TD) and the other Opposition parties asked Mr Rosaiah to be tough on the issue and put forward the State’s case effectively to protect the people’s interests.
Meanwhile, TD President, Mr Chandrababu Naidu, has demanded that Congress President, Ms Sonia Gandhi, should intervene in the matter to direct the Maharashtra Government against harming the interests of the lower riparian States.
Earlier on July 26, an all-party delegation from Andhra Pradesh met Dr Singh to convey the the State’s resentment at how Babli dam would rob the Telangana region of its share of Godavari water.(ANI)
