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2001 Supreme(AP) 233

Andhra Pradesh High Court
Judges : S.B.SINHA, S.R.NAYAK
T.Ramachander Rao - Appellant
Versus
Union of India - Respondent
Decided On : 03-08-01

Headnote:

State reorganization Act, 1956 - Section 108 - volatile of Articles 14 and 21 - public Interest litigation - Issue writ or direction more particularly one in the nature - Imbalances in the irrigated area by executing the following projects - Tunnel work as originally contemplated to cater to the needs of agriculturists in Nalgonda district. III. to complete balance works in sriramsagar project Stage-I and to commence Stage-II on Godavari river to cater to the needs of agriculturists of Adilabad, Karimnagar, Warangal and Nalgonda districts and pass such other order or further orders as this honble Court may deem fit and proper circumstances case – Held, Telengana area – State its Endeavour to develop State as a unit will take into account various aspects viz technical feasibility project financial viability priorities involved inter-State agreements awards of the Tribunals - Before any policy decision is taken by State it gathers information and material from various sources including administrators assigned with duty to manage irrigation system - wisdom State in such policy matters cannot be interfered with by Court exercise jurisdiction constitution of India - Petition dismissed

S. B. SINHA, J.

( 1 ) IN this writ petition which is in the nature of Public Interest litigation, the petitioner who is a retired superintending Engineer of the Government of Andhra Pradesh has prayed for the following reliefs:"it is, therefore, prayed that this Hon ble court may be pleased to issue writ or direction more particularly one in the nature of writ of mandamus by calling for the records relating to the agreements entered by the erstwhile State of hyderabad with regard to the sharing of krishna, Godavari and Tungabhadra waters with that of erstwhile States of andhra and Madras and Andhra Pradesh state with Maharashtra and Madhya pradesh States together with the bachawat awards relating to Godavari and Krishna rivers and declare the action of the respondents in not implementing the same as violative of Articles 14 and 21 of the Constitution of India and also violative of Section 108 of the State reorganisation Act, 1956 and also violative of Directive Principles of State policy i. e. , Article 39 (a), (b) and (c) and 48 of the Constitution of India and consequently direct the respondents 4 to 8 to rectify the imbalances in the irrigated area by executing the following projects on war footing basis by making available all the necessary funds; i. to complete Jurala and Bheema projects utilising Krishna water to eradicate drought in Mahabubnagar district. II. to commence Srisailam left Bank canal on Krishna river through the tunnel work as originally contemplated to cater to the needs of agriculturists in Nalgonda district. III. to complete the balance works in sriramsagar project Stage-I and to commence Stage-II on Godavari river to cater to the needs of agriculturists of Adilabad, Karimnagar, Warangal and Nalgonda districts, and pass such other order or further orders as this hon ble Court may deem fit and proper in the circumstances of the case".

( 2 ) THE principal contention raised in the application is that the Telangana area of the State which is a backward area is being kept out of the developmental progress, as a result whereof, the poor areas are becoming poorer and poorer whereas all developmental activities have been concentrated in the rich areas, the people whereof are becoming richer and richer. The petitioner further contends that 75% of the population of Telangana area depend on agriculture and other works for their living and as no proper irrigational facilities have been provided in the area, the people are suffering a lot. The petitioner has referred to the details of various projects taken up in the area in relation to rivers godavari and Krishna viz. , Sri Ramsagar, srisailam Left Bank Canal, Pochampad, jurala etc. , which have not been completed so far. According to the petitioner, the non- implementation of various irrigational projects taken up in the area and lack of provision of sufficient irrigational facilities affected the agriculture in the area considerably and the living conditions of the people in particular. The petitioner has also given comparative statistical figures of both the regions in the State in relation to irrigated area/sown area prior to formation and after the formation of the State of Andhra Pradesh to show that there was discrimination between the two regions in the matter implementation of the irrigation projects and the required irrigation potentials were not created by the State in the area, as a result whereof, the irrigation content in Telangana area has not increased to cater to the needs of the farmers and there was neglect on the part of the State.

( 3 ) THE previous agreements and arrangements entered into between the states viz. , erstwhile Hyderabad State and erstwhile Andhra State and with other states at the time of formation of the State of Andhra Pradesh in relation to irrigation, power or multipurpose projects and sharing of Krishna and Godavari waters are required to be implemented by the respondents herein in view of Section 108 of the States re-organis
















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