Telangana CM KCR shoots strong missive to Centre on water rows

Hyderabad: Ahead of the Apex Council meeting on October 6 on the irrigation projects taken up by the two Telugu States, Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao on Friday night shot off a 14-page letter to Union Minister for Jal Shakti Gajendra Singh Shekhawat, who is also the Chairman of the Council.

The Chief Minister explained in detail the instances of injustice meted out to Telangana in allocation of Krishna water in the erstwhile State of Andhra Pradesh. He said that the, illegal Pothireddypadu Head Regulator Project and its unauthorised expansion by Andhra Pradesh irreversibly compromised the interests and rights of Telangana. KCR highlighted the consistent failures of Krishna River Management Board (KRMB) as a regulatory body.

Though the matter of Pothireddypadu Regulator and the Rayalseema Lift Irrigation Scheme was first brought to the notice of KRMB as early as in February 2020, they failed to take any action to stop Andhra Pradesh Government from calling for tenders relating to out-of-basin transfer from the Krishna Basin. 

He also pointed out that as per Section-89 of the Andhra Pradesh Re-organization Act, 2014, Krishna Water Disputes Tribunal-II (KWDT-II) has to make project-wise specific allocation and determine an operational protocol for release of waters in the event of deficit flows. However, the Terms of Reference of KWDT-II does not permit inter-se reallocation of water to Andhra Pradesh and Telangana.

The CM referred to the Union Ministry letter which mentioned about the objections raised by the Government of Andhra Pradesh, alleging that seven new projects have been taken by Telangana in the Godavari basin. He said these allegations are a complete farce as all the seven projects were contemplated, designed and grounded by the then government of the united Andhra Pradesh.

KCR demanded that the Union Minister include the allocation of water issues raised in the letter as agenda items of Apex Council meeting. The Centre should also issue immediate direction to Andhra Pradesh to stop work on expansion of Pothireddypadu regulator and construction of the Rayalaseema Lift Irrigation Scheme. In order to enforce this, the operational control of Srisailam reservoir should be handed over to Telangana immediately.

The CM requested to make the terms of reference to the present Tribunal for allocation of fair and equitable share of the waters of the Krishna river to both States without further loss of time.