AP, Maha ink Pranahita pact

In what is being touted as an answer to the separate state demand, the Centre helped Andhra Pradesh and Maharashtra sign an agreement that is aimed at realizing the long-cherished dream of Telangana getting its share of water from river Godavari. The historic agreement was signed by the principal secretaries of irrigation of the two states in the presence of chief minister N Kiran Kumar Reddy and his Maharashtra counterpart Prithviraj Chauhan and Union water resources minister P K Bansal for the utilization of water from Pranahita, a major tributary of Godavari, by constructing a massive lift irrigation project called Chevella-Pranahita. The first agreement for the project between the two states was signed way back in 1975 but it never took off. 
If and when it is completed, the Dr B R Ambedkar Pranahita-Chevella Sujala Sravanthi Project would benefit Adilabad, Nizamabad, Karimnagar, Medak, Warangal, Ranga Reddy, and Nalgonda districts of Telangana by providing irrigation for 16,40,000 acres and another 10 TMC of drinking water for hundreds of villages and towns in the region. The project would also provide 30 TMC drinking water for Hyderabad city. 
Many in the Congress believe that the agreement, which was brokered by the Centre, is part of the unannounced Telangana economic package by the UPA government. “The Centre pushed for the agreement in order to silence the T Congress leaders and others demanding a separate state. The UPA government is expected to announce some more sops for the region before the 2014 polls,” a T-Congress leader said.