KCR, Jagan to attend Apex Council meet on August 25

Hyderabad: Union Jal Shakthi Ministry has proposed to hold the
Apex Council Meeting with AP and Telangana Chief Ministers on August 25 to resolve disputes between both states pertaining to sharing of waters of Krishna and Godavari rivers.

The Union Water Resources Ministry said to have been informed to both the state governments about the proposed date of the meeting of the Apex Council and sought the response from the Chief Ministers of both states.

Union Minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat will chair the meeting which has been convened with the Chief Ministers of both the states, through a video conference.

It may be recalled here that the earlier proposed meeting of the Council on August 5 was postponed with the request of Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao. While asking the postponement of the meeting the Telangana government asked the Union Minister to convene the meeting any date after August 20.

The meeting gains significance in view of the complaints and countercomplaints of both state governments to the Krishna River Management Board and Godavari River Management Board pertaining irrigation projects in both states and also the letters of Union Water Resource Minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat to both chief ministers.

In letters dated August 7, the Union minister noted that both states did not furnish detailed project reports (DPRs) of the projects objected to by each other to the river management board concerned
despite the chairmen of the board seeking the same

The Union Minister in his letters to the chief ministers of both states, made it clear that they cannot take up projects that are not approved by the respective river management boards and the Apex
Council.

He also asked the AP government not to go ahead with its proposed Rayalaseema Lift Irrigation Project. Despite letters from the Union Minister, the AP government has finalised the tenders for the project.
The Apex Council was constituted under the Andhra Pradesh Reorganisation Act to resolve water disputes between Andhra Pradesh and Telangana. The first meeting of the Council was held in September
2016.

In the backdrop of the proposed 2nd  meeting of the Apex Council, Sriram Vedire, advisor to Minister for Jal Shakthi on Monday held a review meeting with the Chairman of Godavari River Water Management Board and Krishna Water River Water Management Board and their officers here at Jalasoudha in the city.