Jaganmohan Reddy takes battle to Delhi, fasts at Jantar Mantar

NEW DELHI: Dismissed Congress lawmaker YS Jaganmohan Reddy has began a day-long fast at Jantar Mantar here in protest against the "injustice" meted out to Andhra Pradesh in the Krishna Water Disputes Tribunal verdict.

The former Congress MP from Kadapa, who had resigned from the party on November last year, arrived late Monday night by a special train along with his supporters and farmers.

Sources said the objective of the fast is to highlight farmers' plight who suffered heavily due to cyclones, untimely rains and floods over the last one year and possible adverse impact of the Krishna Water Disputes Tribunal on the state.

The Tribunal recently allocated the maximum share of 1001 TMC feet of water of the river to Andhra Pradesh, 911 to Karnataka and 666 to Maharashtra.

The Krishna River originates in Maharashtra and flows through Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh before discharging into the Bay of Bengal.

Sharing of Krishna waters has been surrounded in controversy as Karnataka has been seeking to raise the height of the Almatti Dam to 528 metres. It argued that the Union Planning Commission approved the original height of 528 metres in 1978.

But Andhra Pradesh contended that Karnataka has been raising the height of the dam without legal sanction, and in violation of a 1974 tribunal award, accepted by both states.

The Central Government will constitute the Krishna Water Implementation Board after three months and the tribunal verdict can only be reviewed after May 2050.