HYDERABAD: Jal Shakti Minister CR Patil convened a meeting of Irrigation Ministers of four states on May 7 to discuss the publication of the award of the Krishna Water Disputes Tribunal 2 (Brijesh Kumar Tribunal).
“The Jal Shakti minister will chair a meeting with ministers of water resources of Karnataka, Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh and Telangana to discuss on the report-cum-award of Krishna Water Disputes Tribunal-2,” a communication received by the state officials from the Jal Shakti Ministry on Thursday said.
However, the Irrigation department officials were surprised to receive the letter as the matter was sub judice. AP and Telangana filed a case in the Supreme Court and the case hearings were still in progress.
Besides, the Union government gave a fresh terms of reference (ToR) to the Brijesh Kumar Tribunal over reallocation of 811 tmcft allocated to the combined AP by the Bachawat Tribunal. The cross examination before the Tribunal on the fresh ToR issued by the Jal Shakti Ministry was still continuing.
“We are expecting that the Central government may try to resolve the water disputes through consultation process and try to publish the Tribunal award in the gazette,” a senior official of Irrigation department told TNIE.
It may be recalled that Brijesh Kumar Tribunal, which started its proceedings in July 2007, submitted its draft verdict on December 31 2010 and final verdict on November 29 2013. The Brijesh Kumar Tribunal, at 65 per cent dependability estimated that the average yield in Krishna river to be at 2,578 tmcft. Of this, the Tribunal allocated 1,005 tmcft to the undivided AP, 907 tmcft to Karnataka and 666 tmcft to Maharashtra.
The united AP objected to the award and filed a case in the Supreme Court. Subsequently, the newly formed Telangana too impleaded in the case stating that when the Tribunal gave its verdict, Telangana was not a separate state and now the separate state’s arguments should be heard before implementing the award.
Due to litigation, the award was not published in the gazette in the last 11 years. The award of the first Tribunal (Bachawat Tribunal) came into effect in 1976. The next Tribunal will be constituted after 2050.