VIJAYAWADA: Ahead of the second Apex Council meeting scheduled to be convened under the chairmanship of Union Jal Shakti Minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat on Tuesday to discuss water problems between Andhra Pradesh and Telangana, Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy is likely to review State’s approach for the meeting on Sunday.
The letter written to Shekhawat by Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrasekhara Rao, seeking control of Srisailam Reservoir to ensure that AP does not go ahead with ‘illegal’ Rayalaseema Lift Irrigation Scheme, is also expected to come up at the meeting.Sources in the AP government said that as a broad strategy has already been decided, specifics on the four agenda points — submission of detailed project reports (DPRs) of new projects, notifying jurisdiction of Krishna and Godavari River Management Boards, establishment of mechanism for sharing of water and shifting of Krishna River Management Board (KRMB) headquarters to AP — would be discussed.
As per the working arrangement between the twin Telugu States after bifurcation, Telangana already has the operational control of Nagarjuna Sagar project. “In KCR’s letter, it was claimed that KRMB failed to play its role as a monitor and sought control over Srisailam project. But, isn’t it Telangana which has been opposing notification of jurisdiction of river management boards since bifurcation? Andhra Pradesh has time and again sought the notification, which is in the hands of the Centre. Only if the jurisdiction is notified will the boards have control over the projects to enforce the agreements,” an official said.
In his letter, KCR has once again called discussion over jurisdiction ‘premature and meaningless’ as the overall allocation of Krishna waters between both the States is yet to be formulated by the Krishna Water Disputes Tribunal - II. KCR also requested that the issue of water sharing be added to the agenda.
“On one hand they don’t allow KRMB to take over the jurisdiction and on the other, they blame the board for not discharging the duties. In fact, the Union Jal Shakti Ministry has clarified that there was no link between allocation of water under the tribunal and notification of jurisdiction. But, the neighbouring State still claims otherwise and is deliberately confusing the Apex Council.
The Apex Council is only a supervisory body to monitor the functioning of KRMB and GRMB, and any matters related to water sharing can be decided only by the tribunal,” the official maintained.Regarding KCR’s claim that the seven projects in Krishna basin were not new, the AP officials are set to counter it noting that the neighbouring state government has re-engineered the projects and changed the scope.