Centre to discuss AP, Telangana concerns over Krishna waters at Apex Council meet

Meeting notice by Uma Bharti has 5-point agenda, including Telangana's Lift Irrigation Project, which was challenged in Supreme Court

The Apex Council, which was constituted under the provisions of Andhra Pradesh Reorganisation Act, 2014 to resolve the water disputes between the sibling states of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana, is holding its first meeting in Delhi on Wednesday, following the directions of the Supreme Court issued on July 20, 2016.

Union Minister for Water Resources, River Development and Ganga Rejuvenation Uma Bharati, who is the chairperson of the Apex Council has convened the meeting, which is being attended by chief ministers N Chandrababu Naidu and K Chandrasekhara Rao along with irrigation ministers, chief secretaries and engineers-in-chief of both the states.

The meeting notice sent by the Ministry of Water Resources on Monday contained an agenda of five issues, starting with Telangana government's move to construct Palamuru-Ranga Reddy Lift Irrigation Project on River Krishna, which was challenged by some private persons before the Apex Court. The Supreme Court had, in turn, directed the Centre to convene a meeting to resolve the dispute over the issue.

Andhra Pradesh government had already raised its objections over the proposed lift irrigation project, stating that the project has neither clearances nor water allocations. Telangana government seeks to utilise 120 tmc of Krishna Water for irrigation and drinking water purposes through this project, which was estimated to cost a little over Rs 35,000 crore.

Telangana government claims that the project was being taken up within Telangana's entitled share of water in River Krishna.

The agenda also included the discussion on arriving at a working arrangement for sharing of water, transparent mechanism for measuring outflows and inflows at different locations and reservoirs, mechanism for replenishment and over/under drawl by the two states in two states in a given water year and to determine principles for sharing of Godavari water in the context of the diversion of water into Krishna by the lower riparian state.

The meeting of the Apex Council comes at a time when the dispute between the two sibling states on sharing of Krishna Water threatened to grow bigger.

However, the agenda items mentioned just below the issue of Palamuru-Ranga Reddy Lift Irrigation Project includes the concerns of Telangana government, which has been claiming that AP has been drawing water beyond its entitled share. Telangana government was also succeeded in getting the issue of proportionate entitlement of Krishna water for the upper riparian state in exchange for Godavari water being diverted to Krishna by AP, in the first meeting.

Bachawat Tribunal had allocated Krishna water totalling 2,130 tmc among Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka and Maharashtra in the proportion of 811:734:585 tmc ft respectively. As per the project wise allocations, the truncated AP and Telangana now account for 512.06 tmc ft and 298.96 tmc ft of Krishna water out of the total 811 tmc ft entitled by the undivided AP respectively.