Sena digging up a closed caseSalura Irrigation Project Row Settled In Favour Of AP Long Ago

HYDERABAD: The attempt by Shiv Sena to visit the Salura lift irrigation project site in Bodhan mandal of Nizamabad district appears to be in retaliation to TDP's bus yatra to Babli project grounds which was foiled by the Maharashtra police. Government officials here said the Shiv Sena was raking up an issue that was settled long ago after it was established that the project falls well within Andhra Pradesh.
Moreover, the dispute was not about sharing of water.Maharashtra had then claimed that the land where the intake well and pipeline were constructed belonged to them. Salura lift irrigation scheme is a small project on the river Manjira. The foundation stone for the project was laid in 2005 by former chief minister Y S Rajasekhara Reddy. It was commissioned in 2006 to provide water for irrigating 1620 acres. The cost of the project was Rs 3.81 crore.
While the construction of intake well and intake pipeline was on, the Maharashtra government raised objection claiming that the land belonged to them. The revenue authorities from Beloli taluq of Nanded district visited the site and instructed the contractor to stop the work. Following this, Nizamabad district collector D V Raidu wrote a letter to his counterpart in Nanded district in March 2005 informing him that as per the demarcation made by the Survey of India department topo sheet No 56F/14, the project was located within the limits of the state of Andhra Pradesh. He also asked the Nanded collector to instruct the revenue officials of Biloli not to intervene in the project works.
However, the issue did not die down. In July 2006, the Maharashtra government wrote a letter to the chairman of Central Water Commission alleging that Andhra Pradesh was illegally constructing the project on the land that belonged to Maharashtra as per taluka land records. It said the intake well and pipeline were in Maharashtra territory and urged the CWC to direct the AP government not to lift water from the project.
In October 2006, the state government wrote a letter to Maharashtra government stating that the site survey no. 2131 was inspected by deputy director, superintendent of land records of Nanded district, Billoli tehsildar and other staff along with officials from Andhra Pradesh after which it was established that the project was located within the Andhra territory.
Major irrigation minister P Lakshmaiah told TOI that it was Maharashtra which had constructed several irrigation projects illegally across the Godavari ignoring the objections of the state government. It had failed to prove that they were not illegal. On the other hand, the state government promptly reacted to their objections and got a survey done by the Survey of India and convinced Maharashtra government. "It's a closed subject," he said.