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HYDERABAD, Sept. 19

THE State Government should act quickly to finalise the tenders, provide guarantees and allow for the execution of the Rs 875-crore project to bring Krishna river waters to the twin cities of Hyderabad and Secunderabad.

Expediting the project had become more urgent in view of the fact that Krishna river water sharing could be a bone of contention between the neighbouring riparian States, the State Secretary of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), Mr G.R. Karunakar, said here on Thursday.

The drinking water required to meet the needs of the twin cities — 16 tmc, is from the assured water to Andhra Pradesh as per the Bachawat Award. However, it is linked with the projects such as Telugu Ganga and the Srisailam Left Bank Canal (SLBC), which are being carried out using surplus waters.

Cautioning that non-execution of the projects on assured waters might deprive the State of its existing rights, the BJP in a statement urged the Government to be practical and not give a chance to the neighbouring State to dispute it in any court of law.

The ambitious project, for which technical tenders were opened last week, is to be funded through a Hudco loan of Rs 350 crore, the State Government support of Rs 300 crore and bonds to be raised by the Hyderabad Metro Water Supply & Sewerage Board (HMWS&SB), the implementing body.

Mr Karunakar, a director of Hudco said to draw the Rs 350-crore loan, the HMWS&SB must complete the relevant documentation and provide the Government guarantee at the earliest. The reduction of the rate of interest to 11 per cent was under the active consideration of Hudco, he said.

He said the National Housing Bank norms might not allow Hudco further exposure to a single agency such as HMWS&SB, which is only 15 per cent of net worth of Hudco. At the Ministry level, efforts were on for exempting Hudco from the NHB norms, which in turn would help HMWS&SB to access further loans in future.

To raise the necessary funds, Mr Karunakar suggested the option of going in for bonds or the Board can, in consortium with Hudco, access funds from banks.

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