Centre empowers Krishna Board and Godavari Board, defines jurisdictions clearly
VIJAYAWADA: Seven years after the bifurcation of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana and two days after the AP government knocked on the doors of the Supreme Court seeking directions to the Centre to take over the control of common reservoirs on River Krishna, the Ministry of Jal Shakti (MoJS) issued gazette notification defining the jurisdiction of the Krishna River Management Board (KRMB) and the Godavari River Management Board (GRMB) late Thursday night. The notification will come into effect from October 14.
From then, the KRMB and GRMB will have control over the operations and maintenance of the common reservoirs in both Krishna and Godavari basins, a demand which the Andhra Pradesh government has been making ever since the State bifurcation. As per the notification, the projects have been divided into three schedules. Any unauthorised project will be subject to appraisal and approval of the KRMB and in accordance with the Apex Council. It will issue directions to AP and TS and they should be strictly followed.
Within 60 days of issuance of notification, both the States must provide a one time Seed money of Rs 200 crore each to the KRMB. If any question arises over the jurisdiction of KRMB on any project, the decision of the Centre is final. Within six months of notification, both the States will have to get all the unauthorised projects appraised and approved.
If the State governments fail to do so, the projects will cease to operate. From the date of commencement of notification, both the States must completely hand over the projects specified in schedules 1 and II to the KRMB. The Krishna Board will have complete control over the Srisailam project and its components, Telugu Ganga and Handri Neeva Sujala Sravanthi as they are specified under Schedule I and II. As per the notification, Kalwarkurthy Lift Irrigation Scheme, Palamuru Rangareddy Lift Irrigation Scheme, Nagarjuna Sagar and Pulichintala will also come under the complete KRMB jurisdiction.
It may be noted that Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy has recently written to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Jal Shakti Minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat requesting the notification of the river boards’ jurisdiction among other things to resolve interstate water issues. Telangana officials, however, said that their stand remains unchanged. A top official in the Irrigation Department told TNIE that, “The Central government has the right to notify the jurisdiction. But, the stand of the Telangana has not been changed.”
Asked whether the State would take legal recourse against the Centre’s decision, he said that the future course of action would be decided by Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao. “The Chief Minister will soon take a call once the MoJS issues the gazette notification,” the official said. Ever since the State got bifurcated in 2014, Andhra Pradesh has consistently sought the notification of KRMB and GRMB, without which both the river management boards were unable to enforce the norms, Telangana has opposed the notification until the KWDT-II finalises the reallocation of water. In a related development, the KRMB has once again ‘requested’ Telangana to stop hydel power generation at powerhouses on Srisailam left bank, Nagarjuna Sagar and Pulichintala.
“The Telangana Genco authorities are once again requested to stop further release of water immediately through Srisailam Left Power House, Nagarjuna Sagar Dam and Pulichintala Project as it is agreed that quantum of water drawn for power generation purpose is incidental to irrigation and drinking water needs. It is therefore imperative to follow the water release orders issued by the KRMB,” board member (Power) LB Muanthang said in the letter written on Thursday to the TSGenco Director (Hydel). However, an official said that the TS has stopped hydel power generation, due to less inflows into the projects.
‘No change in TS stand’
The Centre has the right to notify the jurisdiction of KRMB and GRMB. But the stand of Telangana has not changed. The Chief Minister will soon take a call once the MoJS issues the gazette notification, a top official of TS Irrigation Department told TNIE