Hyderabad: Union water resources minister Uma Bharati will hold the first apex council meeting with the Chief Ministers of Telangana and Andhra Pradesh this month. On the agenda will be the construction of the Palamuru Ranga Reddy and Dindi projects in Telangana using Krishna waters, thereby affecting inflows into AP.
The apex council was created by the AP Reorganisation Act. The council had not met even once despite both states asking for a meeting.
However, acting on the Supreme Court’s directive, Union water resources ministry officer on special duty Amarjit Singh has now written to the chief secretaries of Telangana state and AP to indicate a convenient date for the Chief Ministers to meet. He has suggested September 11, 18 or 19.
In the past too, the AP government, through a Cabinet resolution, had urged Ms Bharati to convene an apex council meet to thrash out issues concerning utilisation of Godavari and Krishna waters by Telangana state without informing the lower riparian state of AP or obtaining permissions from the Godavari and Krishna River Management Bo-ards constituted by the AP Reorganisation Act.
Similarly, Telangana state too had written to the Union minister to convene a meeting to settle disputes like AP using more water through the Pothireddy padu head regulator without consent of the Krishna River Management Board.
It also claimed a share in Godavari waters that are being diverted to the Krishna basin through the Pattiseema Lift Irrigation Scheme as mandated in the agreement among states reached previously.
Complaints of a similar nature were filed with the Godavari and Krishna River Management Boards by the two state governments. The Boards had forwarded the complaints and obtained the replies and again circulated them among the states. While AP argues that Telangana cannot claim a share in Pattiseema since Polavaram is not yet operational, Telangana has informed the Board that they will obtain necessary clearances from the concerned agencies at an appropriate time.
