Telangana, AP chief ministers bury hatchet over sharing of river water

Godavari water to be diverted to Srisailam reservoir as inadequacy in Krishna river has caused scarcity in Andhra's Rayalaseema region and Telagana's Palamuru and Nalgonda districts

The Chief ministers of sibling Andhra Pradesh and Telangana states today announced that they have set aside the disputes and issues pertaining to river water sharing between the two territories, in order to work towards the optimum benefit for the people of both the states.

"Both Telangana chief minister K Chandrasekhara Rao and Andhra Pradesh chief minister Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy have asserted that it would be their endeavour to ensure that water reaches every nook and corner of both the states for cultivation, drinking purposes and for industries," an official statement said after a day-long meeting between the two chief ministers held on inter-state issues here on Friday.

In a significant development, the two chief ministers have decided to divert Godavari water to Srisailam reservoir as the availability of water in River Krishna was inadequate, due to which Rayalaseema region in AP and Palamuru and Nalgonda districts in Telangana were facing water scarcity, according to the statement.

About 4000 tmc of water was available in Krishna and Godavari Rivers for the two lower riparian states. Of this about 3000 tmc of water is going into the sea. Both the states have to focus their energies on using this unutilised water in future, they said.