VIJAYAWADA: Following the letter sent by the state water resources department that the government has decided to station the headquarters of Krishna River Management Board (KRMB) in Visakhapatnam, the board, citing a dearth of funds, has requested the State to provide necessary funding as no funds were released by Andhra Pradesh government in the last two years.
Even as several civic organisations have been objecting the move to relocate the office to Visakhapatnam, the board has intimated the Union Ministry of Jal Shakti that an action plan for relocation of the board to AP would be done once the accommodation is finalised and requisite funds were provided.
“...It is to mention that there is a paucity of funds in the KRMB inter alia for shifting of headquarters. The KRMB has been requesting for the release of requisite funds. However, the KRMB has not received any funds during the last two years from Andhra Pradesh. It is therefore requested to provide the requisite funds at the earliest,” a letter written to engineer-in-chief (irrigation) C Narayana Reddy last week noted.
The board has also written another letter to the Union Ministry of Jal Shakti stating that not just Andhra Pradesh, but Telangana has also not released funds for the board.
“The action plan for shifting will be submitted to the ministry once the accommodation is finalised and requisite funds are made available to the KRMB,” board member Harikesh Meena informed the ministry.
In the letter to the State, the board said that its headquarters need 17,000 sq feet of area, besides a parking space of 2,000 sq feet.
It asked the State to identify three or four suitable alternative accommodations, which would be inspected and finalised in consultation with the State officials.
The State informed the board on December 25 that it has decided to station KRMB office in Vizag. Various organisations objected to the decision to station the board in a “far away” place.