E-Paper
Centre to take over major irrigation projects after resistance from Telangana, Andhra
As per the gazette notification, the operation and maintenance of as many as 36 irrigation projects on the Krishna, including Srisailam, Nagarjunasagar and Pulichintala, along with their canals and irrigation systems, would come under the purview of the Krishna River Management Board (KRMB).
Beginning Thursday, the Centre will take over the operation and maintenance of two major irrigation projects of Srisailam and Nagarjunsagar on the Krishna river, and Pedavagu medium irrigation project on the Godavari river, which are the bone of contention between the two riparian states of Telangana and Andhra Pradesh.
Though the Centre issued a gazette notification on July 15, seeking to take control of all major and medium irrigation projects with effect from October 14, it has decided to confine itself to only these three projects in the first phase due to objections raised by the two states and defer the decision on the remaining projects.
As per the gazette notification, the operation and maintenance of as many as 36 irrigation projects on the Krishna, including Srisailam, Nagarjunasagar and Pulichintala, along with their canals and irrigation systems, would come under the purview of the Krishna River Management Board (KRMB).
About 70 projects on the Godavari, including Kaleshwaram and Polavaram, would be brought under the Godavari River Management Board (GRMB). Both the boards would be directly under the control of the Union Jal Shakti ministry.
A meeting of the Krishna River Management Board (KRMB) under Jal Shakti ministry, held in Hyderabad on Tuesday, announced that the gazette notification will come into partial implementation from October 14.
A similar decision was taken by the Godavari River Management Board (GRMB) at its meeting held in Hyderabad on Monday, an official in the Telangana state irrigation department familiar with the development said.
“The KRMB decided to take control of even the hydro-power projects on Srisailam, Nagarjunasagar and Pulichintala apart from control over the canals and water releases. While Andhra Pradesh agreed to hand over the hydel power projects located on its side, Telangana refused to do so. The KRMB authorities deferred the decision on the same,” the official quoted above said.
The KRMB also deferred the decision on all the other projects in the Krishna basin mentioned in the gazette notification due to certain objections from both the states. It also wanted to take over all the project offices, files, staff, machinery and equipment with effect from October 14, but kept the decision in abeyance for now.
With regard to Godavari river projects, it was decided that for now, only one medium irrigation project, Pedavagu, would be brought under the control of GRMB, as it is an interstate project. “Both the states agreed for the same, but raised objection over handing over major projects like Kaleshwaram and Polavaram,” the official said.
Though the constitution of KRMB and GRMB was done as per the AP Reorganisation Act, 2014, it was aimed at only resolving the disputes between the two riparian states post bifurcation.
“The boards are essentially meant for monitoring the water releases from the projects on the two rivers as per the allocations made to the states. It does not mean the Centre should take over the complete authority over the projects,” pointed out Madabhushi Sridhar, former Central information commissioner and dean of law in Mahindra University in Hyderabad.
The two states have been raising objections over the gazette notification issued by the Centre. They are arguing that only major interstate projects could be brought under the purview of the river management boards and not all the canals, lift irrigation schemes and hydel power projects.
At the GRMB board meeting held on Monday, the Telangana and Andhra Pradesh irrigation department authorities raised objections over the Centre taking over of the movable and immovable assets of all the irrigation projects like Kaleshwaram in Telangana and Polavaram in Andhra built on the Godavari river.
They sought to know whether the Centre will also take responsibility of the liabilities of the states on these irrigation projects. “We have taken huge loans from banks and financial institutions to complete these projects. If the Centre takes control of them, will it take the responsibility of repaying the loans as well?” the Andhra officials asked.
Both the states have also refused to commit on the payment of ₹200 crore each to the Krishna and Godavari boards towards the expenditure incurred on operation and maintenance of the irrigation projects. They asked the boards to present the expenditure details.
