Andhra ministers hit back at Telangana over demerger demand

Hyderabad, July 19 : A Telangana minister's remarks on Polavaram project and the demand for demerger of seven mandals (blocks) evoked strong reaction from ministers in Andhra Pradesh, who wondered if Telangana would agree to their demand to merge Hyderabad with Andhra Pradesh or unify both the states.

Hours after Telangana's Transport Minister P. Ajay Kumar alleged that the Polavaram project being constructed by Andhra Pradesh across Godavari led to floods in the river at Bhadrachalam, at least two ministers from the neighbouring state hit back.

On the demand that seven mandals of Telangana merged with Andhra Pradesh in 2014 be handed back to Telangana, Andhra Pradesh's Education Minister Botsa Satyanarayana and Water Resources minister Ambati Rambabu hit back at him.

Satyanarayana wondered if Telangana would agree to the demand to merge Hyderabad with Andhra Pradesh. He said Andhra Pradesh suffered loss of revenue after Hyderabad was made the capital of Telangana. "Let them demand that the state be united like in the past. We have no objection to it," he said.

The minister also claimed that Polavaram project was being constructed as per the design. "We can't do anything without permission from Central Water Commission," he said.

Satyanarayana said if some areas in Telangana are getting submerged due to floods, the government of that state should address the problem.

Rambabu advised the Telangana minister not to create new problems between the two states. He pointed out that the seven mandals were merged with Andhra Pradesh in 2014 to create any hurdles in construction of Polavaram project.

On Ajay Kumar's demand to handover at least five villages near Bhadrachalam to Telangana, Rambabu said the demand should be made to the Centre.

Talking to reporters in Hyderabad, he found fault with the Telangana minister's statement that Bhadrachalam is facing floods due to the Polavaram project.