JOIN USThe Union Cabinet on Thursday extended the tenure of Krishna Water Dispute Tribunal, headed by Justice Brijesh Kumar, till July 31, 2014 to make project-wise allocation of Krishna basin water between Seemandhra and Telangana.
Though the extended tribunal’s primary task is to allocate the Andhra Pradesh share in Krishna basin water (1005 tmcft) between Telangana and Seemandhra, sources told Deccan Herald that the its exact job will be known only after the Union Ministry of Water Resources issues terms and references on allocation of water.
Earlier, the Tribunal in its final award allocated 907 tmcft water to Karnataka, 666 tmcft to Maharashtra and 1005 tmcft to Andhra Pradesh out of the total 2578 tmcft available in Krishna basin. However, both Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh filed petitions before the apex court questioning the award.
It is yet to be known whether the Ministry of Water Resources will issue terms and references to the Tribunal asking it to allocate only Andhra Pradesh share between Seemandhra and Telangana or revisit the entire award on allocation of Krishna water among all river basin states, including Karnataka, sources said.
The Cabinet also gave its nod for reconstitution of the Tungabhadra Board with Karnataka, Seemandhra and Telangana as members under Section 94 of the Andhra Pradesh Reorganisation Act. Earlier, Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh were members of the Board.