E-Paper
Andhra Pradesh set to move Supreme Court on Krishna waters row
Telangana government, which welcomed the gazette notification, said the reallocation of water should be done in a scientific manner so that both the states would get equal rights over Krishna waters
Hyderabad
The Andhra Pradesh government on Saturday announced that it would approach the Supreme Court against the gazette notification issued by the Union Jal Shakti ministry to update the terms of reference of the Krishna Water Disputes Tribunal-II (KWDT-II) to reallocate the Krishna river waters between Telangana and Andhra Pradesh.
The gazette notification, issued by Joint Secretary Anand Mohan on Friday night, which was reviewed by HT, specified the terms of reference for adjudication of the matter by the KWDT-II, following the Union Cabinet approval on October 4. The move came after requests from the Telangana government for reallocation of Krishna waters between the two Telugu states.
Andhra irrigation minister Ambati Rambabu told reporters that the terms of reference for sharing of Krishna river waters by the two Telugu states were already mentioned in Section 89 of the AP Reorganisation Act; as such, there was no need for fixing fresh terms of reference to KWDT-II headed by Justice (retired) Brajesh Kumar.
“The new terms of reference will harm the interests of Andhra Pradesh. We have decided to challenge the gazette notification by filing a special leave petition in the Supreme Court soon,” Rambabu said.
As per the award of the KWDT-I headed by Justice R S Bachawat in 1973, Andhra Pradesh was allotted 811 tmc ft (thousand million cubic feet), whereas Maharashtra would get 585 tmc ft and Karnataka 734 tmc ft in the available water in Krishna river every year.
“After the bifurcation of the combined Andhra Pradesh in June 2014, the Telangana and residuary Andhra Pradesh were supposed to share the allocated waters of 811 tmc ft in the ratio of 66:34 per cent. Even the KWDT-II, in its award in November 2013, made the same suggestion and it was mentioned in the AP Reorganisation Act. As such, Andhra Pradesh is entitled to get 512 tmc and Telangana 299 tmc from the original allotment of Krishna waters,” the minister said.
He pointed out that there was a stay on the KWDT-II award as Andhra Pradesh and Telangana had moved the Supreme Court in 2014. At this stage, any change in the terms of reference in the KWDT-II, seeking to make fresh allocations would jeopardise the interests of Andhra. “We are not ready to forgo even a single drop of water from our share,” the minister asserted.
The notification said the reallocation of Krishna waters could be made “project-wise” taking into consideration existing, on-going and contemplated projects of Telangana and Andhra Pradesh, from the undivided share of erstwhile AP.
Strongly opposing the Union cabinet decision, Andhra Pradesh chief minister Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy on Friday dashed off a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi to direct the concerned authorities not to proceed further on the terms of reference given to the KWDT-II.
“The revised terms of reference of the tribunal restricting water sharing to only Andhra Pradesh and Telangana, excluding other two basin states of Maharashtra and Karnataka is not only unscientific but is also against the overall judicious use of water resources as a national asset,” Jagan said.
Meanwhile, the Telangana government, which welcomed the issuance of the gazette notification, said the reallocation of water should be done in a scientific manner so that both the states would get equal rights over the Krishna waters.
“We are also going to insist that Telangana should get an additional share of 45 tmc ft water in Krishna river, if 80 tmc of Godavari river is diverted to Krishna Delta by AP through Polavaram and Pattiseema. It could be used as dependable water for Palamuru-Rangareddy Lift Irrigation Scheme, once adjudicated,” a senior official of the Telangana irrigation department said.
