AP, Telangana and politics of water sharing
After the second Apex Council meeting on Tuesday, convened by Union Jal Shakti Minister Gajendra Shekhawat with the Chief Ministers of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana—Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy and K Chandrashekar Rao—in Delhi, it became clear that the Union minister wanted to not only mediate between the two sibling states for resolution of disputes on sharing Krishna and Godavari waters but also show firmness in areas where consensus was elusive.
With the second meeting of the council being held after four long years though tension had escalated between the two states by and by, Shekhawat appeared intent on ironing out the wrinkles. After the meeting on Tuesday, both CMs stuck to their guns and restated their positions. They justified their arguments by quoting extensively from Krishna and Godavari Tribunals’ awards.
Prior to 2019, KCR and the then Andhra chief minister N Chandrababu Naidu had their own political reasons for letting the issue fester. After Jagan took over as Andhra chief minister, friendship bloomed between him and KCR. They had one-on-one meetings a couple of times on the sharing of river waters, too, but now strangely, they are rolling up their sleeves to protect the interests of their respective states.
While Jagan defended taking up the controversial expansion of the Pothireddypadu Head Regulator project, which is vital for Rayalaseema, KCR argued that he could construct a barrage upstream of Srisailam in retaliation and divert Pothireddypadu water to Telangana.
Despite the intense sparring match, the Union minister used diplomatese after the meeting, saying both the CMs showed a spirit of mutual accommodation. The Centre would be doing a favour to both the states if it continues to engage them in dialogue and tries to find middle ground to resolve major irritants in the river- water-sharing dispute. It is all the more necessary now, as this year alone, thousands of tmcft of water from the Godavari and the Krishna went untapped into the Bay of Bengal, which is an unconscionable waste.