Hyderabad: With the new water year set to commence on June 1, the state government is gearing up to bring pressure on the Krishna and Godavari boards to get its share of water.
The new water year is significant as the flagship mega projects — Kaleshwaram lift irrigation scheme and Mission Bhagiratha — are set to commence operations for which the state needs water from the Krishna and Godavari.
The Krishna board is expected to meet on June 6 to decide on allocations. TS says it should get more water as diverted has Godavari water to the Krishna through the Pattiseema project.
The administrative issues in the two river boards are making matters worse. The Goda-vari board has no chairman. The chairman of the Krishna board has been given additional charge of the Godavari board. He too is set to retire next month. If the Centre fails to appoint a new chairman by then, both the boards will become headless.
A draft notification sent by the Krishna board to the Centre on its jurisdiction has also turned controversial. The notification seeks to bring all the projects constructed on the Krishna river under its jurisdiction which the TS has been opposing.
Irrigation minister T. Harish Rao said, “The Telangana state government’s stand is very clear on this issue. The projects should be brought under the board’s jurisdiction only after the Brijesh Kumar Tribunal makes the final allocation of water. We ask that the Centre first respond to our demands such as allocating 45tmc of additional water in Krishna to Telangana state because AP has diverted the Godavari water to Krishna through Pattiseema.”
