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Naidu welcomes Almatti dam ruling

Syed Amin Jafri in Hyderabad

Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu on Tuesday welcomed the Supreme Court's judgment in the Almatti dam issue. He said, "Justice is done to Andhra Pradesh."

"The state welcomes the verdict because it vindicates our stand on the issue," he said. "From the beginning we have been asking all concerned to protect our rights as per the Bachawat [Krishna Water Disputes Tribunal] award," he added.

Naidu recalled that his government was instrumental in taking up the issue forcefully with the successive Union governments. It was due to its initiative that the committee of four chief ministers was set up by the United Front government.

The expert committee, which assisted the chief ministers' committee, had rejected Karnataka's claims for raising the height to 524 metres. "We are grateful to the four CMs," he remarked.

The chief minister pointed out the Supreme Court suggested that the "Scheme B" for sharing of Krishna waters should be taken up for consideration by the new tribunal which will be constituted after May 1, 2000 to review the Krishna Water Disputes Tribunal Award.

Asked about the Supreme Court's observation that Andhra Pradesh can use the surplus waters of Krishna river but cannot claim a prescriptive right over them, Naidu said that there was no dispute over this.

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