VIJAYAWADA: In line with Andhra Pradesh’s long-standing demand, the Union Jal Shakti Ministry has decided to notify the jurisdiction of both Krishna River Management Board (KRMB) and Godavari River Management Board (GRMB), even though Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao (KCR) objected to it. Similarly, it agreed to shift the KRMB headquarters from Hyderabad to Andhra Pradesh. The Union ministry also accepted Telangana’s request to refer the issue of river water reallocation to the river disputes tribunal, “after taking due legal opinion”, after KCR agreed to withdraw the case his government filed in the apex court.
The second Apex Council meeting, which was held after four years on Tuesday, was “very productive” as Jal Shakti Minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat put it later. Chief Ministers of AP and Telangana — YS Jagan Mohan Reddy and KCR respectively — participated in the meeting, chaired by Shekhawat via video conference. The leaders deliberated on four major issues — notification of jurisdiction of KRMB and GRMB, submission of detailed project reports (DPRs) of new projects, establishment of a mechanism to determine share of water between both the states, and relocation of the KRMB headquarters to AP. The outcome, AP government sources told TNIE, was satisfactory.
“The Centre will go ahead with notifying the jurisdiction of KRMB and GRMB. The Telangana CM dissented, but as per the AP Reorganisation Act, 2014, no consensus is needed, and hence, the Centre, which has the right to do so, will notify the same,” Shekhawat, who is also the Apex Council chairman, said, noting that the issue of jurisdiction had been pending for six years.
During the meeting, Jagan explained that KRMB was unable to exercise its power as its jurisdiction was not notified. “Therefore, for better water regulation and control of common projects, Srisailam and Nagarjuna Sagar, the Central government should notify the jurisdiction of the boards. Otherwise, the operation and maintenance of the major reservoirs may be vested with AP as it is a major stakeholder with eight-and-a-half districts fully dependent on Krishna water, against Mahbubnagar, Nalgonda and part of Khammam district and part of Ranga Reddy and Warangal districts of Telangana,” he demanded.
While AP has always sought notification of the jurisdiction, TS has opposed it citing pending project-wise allocation by the Krishna Water Disputes Tribunal-II (KWDT-II). But the Centre said functions of the board could be accordingly revised after KWDT-II finalises the allocation. Until then, the boards will regulate water-sharing as per the KWDT-I.Jagan began his presentation explaining why his government has proposed the Rayalaseema Lift Irrigation Scheme and upgradation of Pothireddypadu head regulator canal.
He said the projects were proposed only to draw AP’s allocated share of water. “There is no justification in the objections of Telangana to the Rayalaseema Lift Irrigation Scheme proposed to supplement only the existing projects from a level of 800 feet of Srisailam reservoir. Telangana is taking up new projects to draw water from 800 feet level from foreshore of Srisailam,” the CM pointed out. Jagan also argued that Telangana, which has to cater to two districts, was improving its capacity to draw 7 TMC of water from foreshore of Srisailam, while AP, which has six districts to cater to, has no mechanism to draw from 800 feet.
KCR strongly objected to the project claiming that the first phase of the Pothireddypadu canal system itself was unauthorised and taking up another upgradation was illegal. He informed the council that Telangana would construct a barrage in Alampur-Peddamarur to use 3 TMC to “protect the interests of his state and its farmers”, if AP goes ahead with the proposed projects. However, AP countered him with the argument that when projects are under the boards’ jurisdiction, there wouldn’t be any scope to draw more than the allocated share and the proposed projects were only to supplement existing mechanism to draw the State’s rightful and allocated share.
After listening to them, the Union Jal Shakti Ministry directed the States to submit DPRs of all new projects in both the river basins. It clarified that projects that have water allocation in KWDT-I and are mentioned in Schedule XI of the AP Reorganisation Act, 2014, can be deemed old. “All projects which don’t have water allocations from the tribunals or have changed in scope after bifurcation of the state should be appraised technically. Both the CMs agreed to submit the DPRs of all the projects taken up by their respective states. I promised that the technical appraisal of all these projects will be done in the shortest possible time frame,” Shekhawat told the media after the meeting.
On sharing of river water between both the states in both Godavari and Krishna basins, KCR agreed to withdraw the case his government filed in the Supreme Court to enable the Centre move forward on referring the water-sharing issues to the tribunal under Section 3 of the Interstate River Water Disputes Act, 1956, after taking due legal opinion, Shekhawat added. It may be noted that the Telangana government, since 2014, has been requesting that the issue of water allocation be referred to a new tribunal or KWDT-II. “Either a new tribunal has to be constituted or we have to give the existing tribunal (KWDT-II) new terms of reference ... it will be decided based on legal opinion after Telangana signs the consent to withdraw the case,” Shekhawat clarified.
As of now, the 811 TMC available is being shared between AP and Telangana as 512 TMC and 299 TMC respectively. The Telangana government has been claiming that over 575 TMC is its rightful share and has been seeking reallocation. Similarly, Godavari water sharing issue also would be referred to the tribunal, provided that both the states send in requests for water requirement, the Union minister said.
Regarding shifting of KRMB headquarters to AP from Hyderabad, Shekhawat said both the CMs agreed to it. “It was a very productive meeting. We discussed all the issues at length and all of us were on a similar page. Consensus was arrived at on almost all the issues. Ultimately, it is our duty as elected governments to serve the people in rightful and legitimate manner. There will be issues always and hence I have also proposed to hold the meeting at least once a year,” Shekhawat concluded.
