SC to consider Telangana's plea on Krishna water

The Supreme Court on Wednesday said it would consider Telangana’s plea for fresh allocation of Krishna river water in view of reorganisation of Andhra Pradesh.

“Now the Tribunal (Krishna Water) has held that you (Telangana) can’t encroach upon the share of Karnataka and Maharashtra. We will consider their plea as well as Telangana’s contention that the distribution of water was not based on geographical consideration and after bifurcation of Andhra Pradesh, the inhabitants of both the states have obtained different character,” a bench of Justices Dipak Misra and A M Khanwilkar said.

The court posted the writ petition filed by Telangana for consideration on April 19, after noting the contention made by the state represented by senior advocate C S Vaidyanathan that the central government should make reference to the tribunal to resolve the issue raised by it.

However, the counsel representing Karnataka and Maharashtra submitted that Telangana has approached the Krishna Water Dispute Tribunal for reopening of the award, which was rejected.

The state then approached the apex court against the tribunal’s order that had also been dismissed, they said.

They also cited Section 89 of the Andhra Pradesh Re-organisation Act, 2016, stating that water would be released to both the successor states project-wise and shall be binding on them.

Telangana has sought re-allocation of water, claiming that after reorganisation of Andhra Pradesh, the new state has been denied its fair share.

Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka have filed special leave petitions against the Krishna Water Dispute Tribunal II final award and Telangana has filed a special leave petition as well as writ petition against the decision.
DH News Service