Hyderabad: Chief Ministers K. Chandrasekhar Rao and Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy met here for three hours on Thursday and discussed the diversion of the Godavari river to the Krishna basin and sharing the water between the two states.
They decided to meet again to put the seal on the water sharing plan after a committee set up to draw up the para-meters submits its report. Mr Jagan Mohan Reddy was in the city on his way to Jerusalem.
Mr Jagan Mohan Reddy accompanied by party MP Mr Mithun Reddy and adviser Sajjala Ramakrishna Reddy arrived at Praga-thi Bhavan at about 2 pm after meeting Telangana state Governor E.S.L. Narasimhan.
Mr Mithun Reddy confirmed that the Chief Ministers mainly discussed the sharing of water. TS government sources said that Mr Rao while highlighting the latest figures of Godavari water getting wasted during the ongoing monsoon — on Thursday it was about 7.65 lakh cusecs — said that lifting the flood waters from Godavari and diverting it to the Krishna basin was the only solution to cater to the water needs of both states.
Mr Rao reportedly told Mr Jagan Mohan Reddy that with the Kaleshwaram project, the TS government had succeeded in storing around 10 tmc ft of flood water.
There was no water in the Krishna and Srisailam and Nagarjunasagar had not received any water.
Sources revealed Mr Jagan Mohan Reddy, while agreeing with Mr Rao, said a comprehensive plan needed to be chalked out for the diversion of water. The ratio of water sharing and the expenditure for land to be acquired for the projects and canals in both states needed to be worked out.
Sources said that as the engineers committee which was constituted after the first CMs’ meeting was to submit its report, both the CMs decided to meet again to discuss after it submits its proposals.
During the first meeting on water sharing on June 28, the Chief Ministers had asked the committee to submit their report by July 15, but the committee sought time to finalise its proposals.
Sources said that in view of the Union home ministry calling a meeting of the officers of both states to discuss pending issues of the bifurcation at Delhi on August 8, both the Chief Ministers also discussed the core issues pending for the resolution.
