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Krishna waters tribunal to take up T’gana and Andhra water reallocation
In October 2023, the central government gave new terms of reference to KWDT-II under Section-3 of ISRWD Act of 1956
The Second Krishna Water Disputes Tribunal (KWDT-II) will take up hearing of arguments on the reallocation of the river water between Telangana and Andhra Pradesh to resolve the dispute between the two states, an order issued by the tribunal said on Thursday.
The KWDT-II, headed by Justice Brajesh Kumar, said that the hearing will take place first as per the fresh terms of reference issued by the Centre Interstate River Water Disputes (ISRWD) Act, 1956, since it also involves the question of sharing of water between the two states, which may have relevance in making project-wise allocation.
“It is a huge victory for Telangana, which has been arguing for reallocation of Krishna river waters by the tribunal between Telangana and Andhra in the wake of bifurcation of combined Andhra Pradesh in 2014,” state irrigation minister N Uttam Kumar Reddy said in a statement on Friday.
Reddy pointed out that after the formation of Telangana in 2014, then Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) government, headed by K Chandrasekhar Rao, made an agreement with Andhra Pradesh. According to this agreement, only 299 TMC (thousand million cubic feet) of water would be allocated to Telangana as against 512 TMC to AP out of the 811 TMC of Krishna waters awarded by Bachawat Tribunal to the then combined state of AP in 2013.
“This is not at all correct, because 68.5% of the catchment area of Krishna Basin lies within Telangana, accordingly Telangana should get 555 TMC as its due share,” the minister said.
He alleged that by agreeing for only 299 TMC, KCR had sabotaged the interests of the state and thus failed to protect the legitimate water rights of Telangana on river Krishna waters.
“There are many projects in the Krishna basin that do not have water allotment by the Krishna Tribunal like Palamuru – Rangareddy LIS, Kalwakurthy LIS, Nettempadu and Bheema LIS etc. The KCR government should have submitted the DPRs of these projects and would have got them approved from the Central Water Commission and Krishna River Management Board (KRMB). By failing to do so, the previous government had put the lives of the people of Palamuru, Nalgonda and Rangareddy districts in complete jeopardy,” he said.
Reddy said the earlier terms of reference of the Bachawat Tribunal did not provide due justice to Telangana for fair distribution of Krishna waters. The already existing project-wise allocations are not supposed to be touched, thus restricting the quantum of waters to be distributed afresh to Telangana.
In October 2023, the central government gave new terms of reference to KWDT-II under Section-3 of ISRWD Act of 1956. Accordingly, the tribunal would look into the allocation of Krishna waters to the ongoing and contemplated projects of both the states of Telangana and Andhra Pradesh.
“The tribunal was also asked to look into the redistribution and reallocation of the Krishna waters between Telangana and from the undivided share of 811 TMC allocated for the combined state of AP. These additional terms of reference paved the way for fair distribution of its rightful share of river Krishna waters to Telangana,” the minister said.
He said though the Andhra government had moved the Supreme Court challenging the validity of the additional terms of reference issued by the Centre, the Supreme Court did not give any interim relief on this matter to Andhra Pradesh.
Meanwhile, senior BRS leader and former Telangana irrigation minister T Harish Rao hailed the interim orders issued by the KWDT-II and credited the previous KCR government for putting up a fight in the tribunal and Supreme Court to achieve the legitimate share of Krishna waters for Telangana.
“This outcome is a testament to the tenacious struggle and strategic planning executed during KCR’s tenure to rectify the injustices done by the Congress party. It was during the Congress regime at the Centre in the past that Telangana faced significant challenges regarding water shares in the Krishna river,” he said.
