HYDERABAD: Sparring neighbours — Andhra Pradesh and Telangana — may find an amicable solution over sharing of river waters at the second meeting of the Apex Council scheduled to be held on August 5.
Union Jal Shakti Ministry will be holding the meeting following a fresh controversy kicked off by the Andhra Pradesh government by issuing GO 203 on May 5 to divert about 10 tmcft water per day from Krishna river to Rayalaseema region, mostly for areas outside the river basin.
Following this, the Telangana government lodged a complaint with the Krishna River Management Board (KRMB) and the AP government too reacted in a similar fashion, objecting to the new projects of Telangana on Krishna and Godavari rivers. Finally, the Jal Shakti Ministry decided to convene the Apex Council meeting to resolve the contentious issues based on the complaint lodged by BJP State President Bandi Sanjay Kumar in May to the Union Minister over the GO 203.
The Apex Council meeting, to be held through video-conference, will be chaired by Council chairman and Jal Shakti Minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat. The Apex Council members, AP Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy and his Telangana counterpart K Chandrasekhar Rao, will be attending the meeting.
According to sources in Telangana State Water Resources Department, the agenda points for the Apex Council meeting are: deciding the jurisdiction of the projects, submission of detailed projects reports (DPRs) of projects by TS and AP, sharing of Godavari waters and Telangana’s right over 45 tmcft water in Krishna above Nagarjuna Sagar Project and shifting of KRMB office to AP capital.
Surprisingly, there was no mention of Pothireddypadu issue in the agenda of the Apex Council. The agenda simply mentioned DPRs of the projects.
“We wanted the Apex Council meeting only to discuss GO 203. But there is no mention of it. The Jal Shakti Ministry ignored TS’ agenda and came with its own,” an official in TS Water Resources Department told Express on Wednesday.
The official, however, said that the Chief Minister would raise Pothireddypadu issue. AP has already invited tenders for the works mentioned in GO 203 without even caring for the KRMB and the NGT directions, which asked Andhra Pradesh not to proceed with the works till the Apex Council cleared the project, the official pointed out.
“Instead of GO 203, the Apex Council agenda mentioned the shifting of the KRMB office to AP. It is a trivial issue and it can be decided by the KRMB itself. The TS agreed for the shifting of the KRMB office to AP two years ago,” the official said.
The Andhra Pradesh government issued GO 203 to draw six to eight tmcft water per day from Srisailam Reservoir. It accorded administrative approval for an amount of Rs 6,829.15 crore for the project. Raising an alarm over this, Telangana knocked the doors of KRMB. Immediately, AP officials lodged a complaint over the ‘illegal projects’ of Telangana on Godavari and Krishna.
Consensus at first Apex Council meet
The first meeting of Apex Council, constituted as per the provisions of the AP Reorganisation Act, 2014, was held in September, 2016, which was attended by the then Union Water Resources Minster Uma Bharti, the then AP Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu and his Telangana counterpart K Chandrasekhar Rao.Recently, the Telangana CM disclosed that a consensus was arrived at the first meeting and that both States had decided to construct Palamuru-Rangareddy and Pattiseema projects.
It was decided that the telemetry system be installed to gauge the Krishna water utilisations by both the Telugu States. It is expected that a consensus may be arrived at in the second meeting too on Krishna and Godavari waters.
Projects & objections
AP’s ‘new’ projects on Krishna basin to which TS has objected to Muchumarri LI, Gundrevula Reservoir, LIS for supplementation of Gajuladinne ayacut, Guru Raghavendra LIS, Pulikanuma LIS, Sidapuram LIS, Sivabhashyam LIS, Munneru Scheme, RDS Right Canal, New LIS on Tungabhadra river between RDS and Sunkesula barrage, Vaikuntapuram barrage on river Krishna upstream of Prakasam barrage, Interlinking of Godavari and Penna river in phase-1 from Harischandrapuram village to Nekarikallu village in Guntur districts, Vedavathi (Hagari) river LIS, Naguladinne KLIS, Rayalaseema pumping system and enhancement of diversion capacity of Pothireddypadu head regulator to 80,000 cusecs
TS’ ‘new’ projects on Krishna basin to which AP has objected to Palamuru-Rangareddy LIS,Dindi LIS, Bhaktha Ramadas LIS, Water Grid Project under Mission Bhagiratha , Tummilla LIS, Kalwakurthi LIS with an additional utilisation of 15 tmcft, Nettempadu LIS with an additional utilisation of 3.4 tmcft, and SLBC with an additional utilisation of 10 tmcft
TS projects on Godavari basin to which AP has objected to Kaleshwaram LIS, GLIS Phase-3, Sita Rama LIS, Tupakulagudem, Telangana Drinking Water Supply Project, Rajupet (Bhimkund) barrage on lower Penganga, Chanakha - Korta barrage on lower Penganga, Pimparad - Parsoda barrage on lower Penganga, and Ramappa Lake to Pakhal Lake Diversion