AP CM meets legal expert to present state water dispute case

Hyderabad, Jul 15 : Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister K.Rosaiah today reiterated that the interest of Andhra Pradesh 'should and would be protected under any circumstances' in the inter state irrigation project including Almatti on river Krishna and Babli on river Godavari and met legal luminary here to forcefully represent the state case on the disputes tribunal. The Chief Minister held a special meeting with Senior Supreme Court lawyer Mr Dipankar P Gupta, Major Irrigation Minister and other officials on the Krishna Water Disputes Tribunal at Secretariat. The Chief Minister discussed the working of legal and technical teams of Andhra Pradesh on Krishna Tribunal headed by Justice Brijesh Kumar. Mr Gupta, who was also former Solicitor General of India, specially flew from Delhi for this meeting and apprised the Chief Minister regarding the arguments and stand taken by Andhra Pradesh before the Krishna Water Disputes Tribunal. He also gave a brief over view of the likely scenario emerging in the report of the Tribunal. Senior Counsel Dipankar P Gupta was confident that Andhra Pradesh had argued their case before the tribunal in a very forceful and effective manner and expected a positive outcome.The Chief Minister reiterated that the interest of Andhra Pradesh should be and would be protected under any circumstances. He told the senior advocate and other top officials that the State's case should be presented in the most effective manner and we should see that our interests are protected.The Chief Minister directed the legal and technical teams to take all possible measures and ensure that no stone remains unturned for vindicating the case of Andhra Pradesh in all respects in the Tribunal.The Chief Minister also will lead an all-party delegation to the Prime Minister to represent the case of Andhra Pradesh on the Babli issue. The Chief Minister who met the Prime Minister yesterday already briefed on the subject. Dr Rosaiah was confident of strongly presenting the issue before the Prime Minister during the meeting. He reiterated that the interest of the State in this case is upper most in his mind and will pursue the case strongly in all platforms.Major and Medium Irrigation Minister Ponnala Lakshmiah, Principal Secretary, Irrigation, S K Joshi, Irrigation Advisers, offiicials and engineers were among attended the meeting, according to a release from Chief Minister's office here.
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