Tribunal will not distribute Krishna water: Chairman

HYDERABAD: The arguments before the Krishna Water Disputes Tribunal regarding the Palamuru-Rangareddy project continued on Friday in Delhi. The Telangana government proposed to use 45 TMCft for minor irrigation and divert another 45 TMCft from the Godavari river, which was reallocated to the Palamuru-Rangareddy lift irrigation scheme.

Jayadeep Guptha, a senior advocate, argued on behalf of Andhra Pradesh (AP) before the Tribunal. However, Telangana stated that AP’s petition against Palamuru-Rangareddy was not maintainable before the Tribunal, and the appropriate forum to decide the matter as per AP Reorganisation Act, 2014, was the Apex Council.

AP tried to establish that the Tribunal was the authority to decide on the issue. Still, the Tribunal expressed that it would not distribute the water but only make project-wise specific allocations, if not already made. Chairman Brijesh Kumar clarified that the proceedings of this Tribunal under Section-3 and Section-5 of ISRWD Act, 1956, are already over, and now it has limited scope under the proceedings of Section-89 of APRA, 2104.

AP argued that the Apex Council has no adjudicatory power and only has a mediator role, citing section 84(3)(iii) of APRA. The Chairman said the Apex Council may refer to the Tribunal. He enquired whether Apex Council meetings are ongoing and also recalled Telangana witness’s statement that without project-wise specific allocations made, determining the operation protocol is not possible, making it difficult to move forward.