godavari waters industry and agriculture
TRANSCRIPT
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TO
Andhras resistance to Telanganais linked to future access to the
rivers waters on which the coastal regions industries are heavily
dependent
The Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General of India, State Finances for the year ended March 2012 (ofthe Government of Andhra Pradesh), records that there are 56 incomplete major irrigation projects in all. More
than half are directed towards coastal Andhra, and a few to the Rayalaseema region. The details of the projects
are available in official records and on the State Irrigation Departments website. Of these, the financial statusof the Indira Sagar Polavaram is shown as follows: in 2004, the year of its commencement, the originalestimated cost of the project (all in crore) was Rs.10,151.04; the revised cost Rs.16,010.45; expenditure upto the end of March was Rs.4,234.18; and, the cost overrun was Rs.5,859.41. Among other high costirrigation projects are the Somasila, Indiramma Flood Flow Canal, Indirasagar Rudramakota Lift IrrigationScheme, AMR-SLBC LIS and the Telugu Ganga project, which has the highest cost overrun of Rs. 7,747.00
crore. There are 16 medium irrigation projects with a total overall cost overrun of Rs. 20,142.06 crore. All these
are incomplete projects. Some are ongoing.
Apportioning of spoils
In the current battle between pro- and anti-statehood for Telangana, little has been said or written about the
Polavaram dam (commenced by the late Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy, whose regime also figured in the leaked
WikiLeaks cables for the volume of graft in irrigation projects, with four to five companies executing all theprojects), considering that how the spoils of the project are apportioned is important for both Telangana and
Andhra, even in the now unlikely event of a new state not being created.
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Along with the Telangana announcement, the Congress declared Polavaram a national project, thus centrally
sanctioning the largest displacement (from a single project) of the tribal populations of three districts. Themaximum submergence will take place in the Khammam district of Telangana, where more than 200 of the 276
official (300 unofficial) villages will go under water. The other two districts are East Godavari and West
Godavari Scheduled Area. Yet, keeping aside the displacement aspect for the moment, many other questions
arise over the status and politics of Krishna and Godavari rivers now and in future. Where does that leave inter-State Godavari water distribution? And what will be its likely impact on the livelihoods of the tribal
communities in the two States?
For the longest time, the Telangana discourse revolved around Godavari waters, irrigation, unequal economic
development, farm suicides and the farm debt crisis in most of its agrarian areas. With the creation of a State
which lies physiographically upstream (while benefits have flowed downstream) will the dynamics change andin what way remains a question. In deciding allocations of river waters between two States that had hitherto
been two regions, would it be about water for basics and agriculture of small and medium farmers of Telangana
(whose aspirations for statehood were built on these premises) or for global industrial regimes in the coastal
districts?
In 2010, I found an advertisement (a pullout in an English daily, dated June 30) issued by the Andhra PradeshIndustrial Infrastructure Corporation highlighting the 10 Things Good with Godavari which included
timeless river, rice bowl of south India, rich agriculture, natural resources access to sea ports, big playersalready there, a willing administration and peaceful politics. The ad mentioned the big players, includingONGC, Reliance and Cairn Energy. APIIC has secured four blocks of oil fields two offshore and twoonshorecovering 4,587 sq km The states chief facilitator is the shaping hand in 300 industrial parks,covering a cumulative extent of 1.30 lakh acres. In just the last five years, APIIC made available 30,000 acres
of land to entrepreneurs, besides accumulating a land bank of 82,000 acres.
To me the APIIC was advertising a future closely linked to the Polavaram dam with stakes on Godavari that go
way higher than any of the smaller and incidental issues raised about small and medium farmers first orsecond or third crops. The APIIC was also talking about an industrial estate at Velugubanda in Rajanagarammandal , industrial parks at Peddapuram over 1,100 acres and at Kakinada over 1,053 acres and
modernisation of the Samalkot canal to cater to the future needs of industry apart from the Kakinada SpecialEconomic Zone (that was coming up) over 10,000 acres in East Godavari
Andhra Pradesh Petroleum, Chemicals and Petrochemicals Investment Region: This is a specially delineatedinvestment region of 603.58 sq km for manufacturing and service facilities for domestic and export-led
production of petroleum, chemicals and petrochemicals. The Andhra Pradesh government signed a MoA withthe Department of Petrochemicals, Government of India, for this in the year 2009. According to the official
website of the APPCPIR, an investment of $3.95 billion is being made for external infrastructure of PCPIR inAndhra Pradesh. The investments are being made by the State Government of Andhra Pradesh, the Central
Government of India and private players It also mentions themajor investors, which include Reliance,Eisai, Continental Carbon, Velankani, RCL, Naturol, ISPRL, SNF India, Air Liquide, Baker Hughes, Biocon,
Phormozell.
Then there was a connected corporate edifice, called the Visakhapatnam Industrial Water Supply Project(commissioned in 2004), a first-of-its-kind dedicated Industrial Water Sector Project which promises 365days assured industrial water supply to several mega-infrastructure projects coming up in the near vicinity[of Visakhapatnam]
Where will the water come from? From the Yeleru Left Main Canal from Yeleru Reservoir (385 MLD);Pipeline from Godavari (385 MLD); Samalkota Canal from Godavari (220 MLD); Polavaram Left Main Canal,which is under execution (1848 MLD) (source:http://www.appcpir.com).
http://www.appcpir.com/http://www.appcpir.com/http://www.appcpir.com/http://www.appcpir.com/ -
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Packages
The entire process of Polavaram dam construction, including canals, pipelines, etc., was almost given away as a
largesse by the State government during YSRs regime to contractors (though ostensibly through tenders) aspackages, now a Telugu term. Since 2004-05, different stretches of the Polavaram work area, named C-1,C-2 and so on are under contract, sub-contract or joint ventures of private firms such as ProgressiveConstructions (which, importantly, was founded by the Congress MP, Kavuri Sambasiva Rao, who hails from
the West Godavari district). Details of contractors can be seen on government websites. A study of the caste,
class, and political composition of the companies to which such public works are allocated can reveal a fewcrucial truths. Considering that the largest beneficiaries of the Polavaram dam will be the industries along thecoastal corridor and the contractors of the dam are mostly from that region, it may be important to look deeper
into the agitation in the coastal Andhra region and, to a lesser extent, in Rayalaseema.
The current nature of resistance to Telangana is deeply linked, principally, to the investments in irrigation andreal estate projects and future access to Godavari waters for the industrial corridor, on the one hand, and, on the
other, for the middle classes, the fear of losing urban and globally connected employment opportunities (apart
from government jobs) in Hyderabad than with the ideals of unity (samaikyam) or the livelihoods of thepoorest of the poor. Even the Telangana camps, including the Telangana Rashtra Samithi, seem to havesidelined the issue of the Polavaram dam and its long-term, irreversible, impact in not only matters of ecology
and environment but also on what will ultimately remain for the most marginalised (in either regions, or States)once the Godavari is apportioned to global firms in a skewed world economy. Even in case a Telangana state
happens, one does not know what will be gambled away over this game of dice.
(The author is an independent journalist based in Hyderabad awaiting publication of her book, When GodavariComes: Peoples History of a River)
Very boring article. The united Andhra Pradesh campaign is based on emotions that naturally comes
when a family is divided. These emotions are native. The division is entertained for purely political
reasons by both congress and BJP to retain the power. I hope that both Telangana and Seemandhra
would reject Congress and BJP. The concept of divide and rule is british and the leading parties are
practicing it.
from: KVRPosted on: Oct 5, 2013 at 23:51 IST
The author is presenting distorted views. At one point she is saying that Kavuri's is involved in diverting
Godavari water to industrial use. But the same minister is not supporting united A.P cause now. And
the main contentious issue is revenue sharing between new states as majority of revenue is comes from
Hyd not Godavari. There is less scope for tapping Godavari in Telangana due to its geography. The lift
irrigation to tag godavari requries 8000 MW of electricity. In 60 years of A.P formation A.P Genco can
produce 8000 MM of power. Guess, how much time/resources required by T state alone.
Hyd has reputation of Pharma capital of India. Most of the industries like Reddy's, Aurbindo, Martix,
Divis are established by Andhra people. There are numerous other industries. From daily labourer 2
grad student for their livelihood they are coming to hyd. All ready some section of Telangana leaders are
saying that preference should be given to local people. How will compensate these people?
from: Ramesh
Posted on: Oct 5, 2013 at 23:12 IST
i am from telangana ...we know the exact cause and riseing of telangana demand bcz we were faced so
many problems with andhra dominated people ,in the grounds of EDUCATION ,UNEMPLOYMENT
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,LEADERSHIP ,WATER PROBLEMS ,SOCIAL AND CULTURAL ABOLITION BY THE ANDRA
INDUSTRIALISTS.....so many problems ..we were treated as slaves for andhra region...abolition of my
language slang is also a one of the main cause
from: sravan kumarPosted on: Oct 5, 2013 at 22:19 IST
A great article in fact,I urge people to read it first,why was telangana farmers denied their due share??
And those who say they developed Hyd should remember that Hyd was the richest princely state at thetime of merger,nw its just lost its glory,investors benefitted from their invests,they did not invest for
charity,people should realise that if Hyderabad was not a gem of a city,andhras would never let go of
madras or move kurnool as capital
from: Nikhilesh ReddyPosted on: Oct 5, 2013 at 18:50 IST
It's a good article that seeks to enlighten us. We have to consider the interests of the tribals before going
ahead with Polavaram Project. Another thing is, is it necessary to turn fertile agricultural land into
coastal industrial corridor with its attendant evils such as pollution of waters and environment?
from: J. RAVINDRANATH
Posted on: Oct 5, 2013 at 17:55 IST
"Andhrasresistance to Telangana is linked to future access to the riverswaters on which the coastal
regional industries are heavily dependent"
I would dare to say these as Half baked statements. There are many such reasons why Andhra resists to
Telangana statehood. Author's reason might be true but it is one in many. One should notice that even
common man of Andhra is worried not just the industrialists and real-estate cauldron.
Please look from a common-man's prospective to understand the agony in the 65 day long strike inAndhra. Why is there no panic in common-man even if basic needs are hit in Andhra? People are
travelling by paying extra bucks, living in dark and NGO's are living salary-less from last few months.
Why? Are they the beneficiaries of Godavari basin?
Request HINDU to value Andhra people's agitation before publishing these half baked articles!!
from: Sarath
Posted on: Oct 5, 2013 at 17:09 IST
Being a tamil myself and seen the cauvery dispute all my life, i would say this dispute between telengana
and andhra is going to happen for good. At least now, the central government will think about"nationalising" all the rivers of india so that everyone benefits from the rivers of india instead of just a
few states.
from: John
Posted on: Oct 5, 2013 at 16:48 IST
What this article aims at is totally biased.Andhra Pradesh is the first linguistic State formed by the the
then Union Government with the noble idea of uniting the State of Andhra with the State of Hyderabad
on the principal of 'one language and one people.People of both the States selflessly agreed to this
proposal at that time. There might be few voices against merger at that time from both the States. If
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Nagarjuna Sagar Project is considered less useful to the needs of Telangan Region ,it may be left in the
control of Andhra Region by altering the borders of both Guntur and Nalgonda districts in the proposed
State Reorganisation bill, as the said Project was built on the boarders of both the districts.Water can be
shared as per the agreements.
from: A.Ramakrishna
Posted on: Oct 5, 2013 at 16:33 IST
Why are we dividing ourselves into smaller and smaller states? Is it really for administration concerns oris it for political motives? At this rate, by the year 2020 we could have as many states as the USA.
from: Suresh Haridas
Posted on: Oct 5, 2013 at 16:24 IST
It is a known fact that Telangana has always been denied it's rightful share of Krishna & Godavari river
waters. Almost all major irrigation projects in Andhra Pradesh such as Nagarjunsagar, Srisailam have
been designed and implemented for the benefit of farmers in Andhra even as they inundated lakhs of
hectares of forest,farm lands in Telangana. Leaders of anti Telangana blatantly allege that with
Telangana formation, they will face water problems as Telangana farmers will be allocated their
legitimate shares.
from: Nitin Reddy
Posted on: Oct 5, 2013 at 12:44 IST
Coastal andhra's worry of water needs for industrial purpose has been given due attention and some
steps like declaration of polavaram irrigation project as national project are in that direction.The
concern of telangana farmers and msme would also be not compromised in this way.A committee headed
by Anthony to look into more sustainable measures so that there would be no backlash has been
created.Reorganization of state bill 2013 shall take care of all these issue, at least we can hope for
that.But for long term sustainability of country , there is need for constitution of 2nd state reorganisation
commission with clear criteria and conditions which would pave way for creation of a new state.Ad hocarrangement would be a sustainable solution to such type of issues which as social and regional
connotation as
well
from: Shivraj GurjarPosted on: Oct 5, 2013 at 12:18 IST
Good work but incomplete and partisan.Leave it at that. The concept of Polavaram dam is seriously
unscientific as the same available water in Godavari ( for Andhra) is calculated for all the Godavari
schemes.The river is mainly from Maharashtra and the water it gets is from the S-W monsoon
mainly.The barrage across Godavari in Rajamundry , Cottons barrage )will be left with the S-E monsoonrains once the Polavaram dam is built.And Polavaram will be affected once the Vidarbha region starts
using its full quota of Godavari water.
It was evident that the Polavaram in Godavari and the huge lift and pump scheme from Krishna river to
Rayalseema will collapse by the time they are commissoned leaving the Congress and YSRC people alone
the benificiary by way of kick backs
from: appan varma
Posted on: Oct 5, 2013 at 11:45 IST
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"Records that there are 56 incomplete major irrigation projects in all. More than half are directed
towards coastal Andhra, and a few to the Rayalaseema region" This shows the injustice done to
Telangana region in only one sector of irrigation. Like wise there are several major sectors
in which injustice done.
from: Prashant
Posted on: Oct 5, 2013 at 11:42 IST
It will be no different from Tamilnadu-Karnataka river water dispute.
from: Syed
Posted on: Oct 5, 2013 at 11:42 IST
We telugu people hail late YSR for starting all these irrigation projects. He had done excellent job of
starting Irrigation projects covering all regions of Andhra Pradesh. even though there is mismanagement
of project estimates, already completed projects are giving water to lakhs of acres of land. Had Andhra
started this projects much earlier, AP might have got more water allocated by Bachavat
Tribunal.
from: GouthamPosted on: Oct 5, 2013 at 10:20 IST
This lady has to be congratulated for her eccellent work
from: Ramachandran.cPosted on: Oct 5, 2013 at 08:59 IST
People are worrying about losing chances , opportunities, dreams, development, water,irrigation,
finances, investments, and so many things.. not only one thing... Please correct yourself
from: NaniPosted on: Oct 5, 2013 at 04:47 IST
No one write articles on the revenues generated by andhra region and telangana region for the past 60
years.. How state was developed ... They dont bother about any other thing.. One more thing: How many
national institutes , defence and research institutes were established in Hyderabad compared to the other
parts of Andhra pradesh.. We are in a great democratic country. Now, If a student gets no 1 rank in
medical examination, he prefers hyderabad .. if a student get no 1 rank in engineering , he prefer
hyderabad.. top students lose this chance.. How many students are attending engineering and medicine
colleges in Andhra and telangana..how many best institutes were developed by governments in Andhra
nad Telangana Region?? compare.. Now understand who is suffering??? Telangana or Andhra .. It will
take atleast 30 to 50 years for Andhra region to develop.. So Next generations should suffer Isnt it?? Isthis fair division.
from: Nani
Posted on: Oct 5, 2013 at 04:43 IST
Moreover, We are living in democratic country(i still believe).. and the states have their own identity.. not
the slaves of central. 70% of the people are agitating in Seema and Andhra, no national party
considers it.. they dont want to consider their concerns.. Is India ready to sponsor 2 lakh crores of cash
for the development of andhra capital as par as hyderabad.. Because Andhra industrialists and
andhra people invested a lot in hyderabad to develop as they felt it is their capital. Dr.Reddy Labs,
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Aurabindo Pharma, Matrix Pharma, Infotech enterprises Limited, Satyam Computers, Visual soft,etc..
so many companies were estrablished when hyderabad is not even in theworld map of development
index.. Some one has to start the process. they started in hyderabad and the development started. NO
National Media consider this. Because our country is democratic country in which central gocernment
can take decisions as dictator. Every one supports..
from: Nani
Posted on: Oct 5, 2013 at 04:36 IST
Good Article..But half truths to convince indian public ... real fact why people are agitating in Seema and
Andhra regions is due to inequality , biased division.. Check official figures of AP revenue from the last
20 years region based.. During development of Hyderabad, they used agriculture dominated andhra
income and now they are ditching andhra people after hyderabad is made as one of the top IT hubs in
India. Why Central government delayed to offer international airport to vizag.. Why Recent 2.5 lakh
crores investment for developing hyderabad further more?? Why cant they shift this to Andhra region??
Now more than 50% revenue is coming from hyderabad.. Andhra region population is 63% of total state
population.. Now, you are dividing state . and distributing loans based on population .. but giving
hyderabad to telangana.. How long andhra takes to develop.. so The people who helped in the
development of hyderabad dont have chance to enjoy the fruits of development.
from: NaniPosted on: Oct 5, 2013 at 04:29 IST