Vijayawada, Oct 13:
Tamil Nadu Chief Minister C Joseph Vijay visited the famous Kanaka Durga temple in Vijayawada on Tuesday and offered prayers ahead of his meeting with Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu to discuss inter-State water-sharing issues, particularly the release of Krishna river water for Chennai.
Vijay, dressed in a shirt and dhoti, received traditional honours from priests on his arrival at the shrine. A special puja was performed, while devotees cheered the Chief Minister as he greeted them with folded hands.
The meeting with Naidu was scheduled for 4.15 pm, with discussions expected to focus on expediting the release of Krishna water to Tamil Nadu under the Telugu Ganga Project and the proposed Godavari-Krishna-Cauvery river-linking initiative. Vijay was also expected to meet Andhra Pradesh Deputy Chief Minister Pawan Kalyan and participate in the cultural celebrations of Vijayawada Utsav 2.0 before returning to Chennai.
Under the Telugu Ganga agreement, Andhra Pradesh is required to supply 12 thousand million cubic feet (TMC) of Krishna water annually to Tamil Nadu to meet a portion of Chennai’s drinking water requirements. However, Tamil Nadu had received only around 2.25 TMC of its annual allocation as of October 9, prompting the State to seek the immediate release of the remaining quantity.
The discussions were also expected to cover broader water-management concerns and the proposed interlinking of the Godavari, Krishna and Cauvery rivers, which Tamil Nadu views as important for long-term drinking water security and agricultural needs.
Meanwhile, environmental activist G Sundarrajan of Poovulagin Nanbargal urged Vijay to press for the immediate release of water from the Kandaleru reservoir and seek an allocation from Srisailam for the Telugu Ganga Project. He also called on the Chief Minister to present details of Chennai’s drinking water requirements, the storage levels in reservoirs such as Poondi and the quantity of Krishna water received by Tamil Nadu this year during his discussions with Naidu.