TIRUPATI: Byreddy Rajasekhara Reddy, the founder of the Rayalaseema Parirakshana Samithi (RPS) and a former state legislator, has urged the federal government to modify the proposed bridge that would span the Krishna River and unite the states of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana. He emphasised that the “Centre must instead build a Bridge-cum-Barrage to help the agriculture, transportation, and tourist industries in both Rayalaseema and Telangana.”
The RPS convener P. Naveen Kumar Reddy and the RPS founder stated, “We want to guarantee that the bridge proposed by the centre is erected keeping in mind all the needs.” They made their remarks during a news conference on Wednesday at the Tirupati Press Club. To emphasise this point, Byreddy stated they will hold a “Chalo Siddeswaram” protest event in Siddeswaram on January 28 and bring the issue to the attention of the central government’s focus.
Interestingly, Nitin Gadkari, the union minister for roads, transport, and highways, recently tweeted that the centre had approved the construction of a “iconic cable stayed-cum-suspension bridge” across the Krishna River between AP and TS at a cost of $1,082.56 crore and that it would take 30 months to complete.
RPS has since demanded that the bridge be reconstructed as a result. The famous bridge across the Krishna between Somasila and Siddeswaram, according to the RPS convenor, would reduce the distance between Hyderabad and Tirupati by 80 kilometres. If a barrage-cum-bridge is built in its place of the suspension bridge, it will offer irrigation opportunities to farmers in Rayalaseema and Telangana.
He stated that Nitin Gadkari and the chief ministers of both Telugu states will shortly meet with a team from the Rayalaseema Parirakshana Samithi for elaborating on the justification for their demand to them.
Going further into the alleged lack of development in Rayalaseema, Byreddy said that despite the abundance of water in the Krishna River from the Srisailam reservoir, successive governments had disregarded the irrigation needs of the area. Although Rayalaseema lacks industry for employment and growth as well as water for irrigation, he accused previous administrations of exhibiting little regard for the region. The RPS founder emphasised that the region wants “Water, Funds, and Employment.”
He emphasised that Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams had thousands of open positions. These should be filled right once, with Rayalaseema’s jobless youngsters receiving top priority for the available positions.
Byreddy bemoaned the fact that the Chittoor district’s political leaders had ruined the region’s agriculture in order to further their own political agendas. By no longer paying dairy farmers a support price for milk, they are now even depriving them. Because Chennai is receiving 15 TMC of Telugu Ganga water but Tirupati only receives 2 TMC, he cautioned that Tirupati may experience a drought.
