Telangana agrees to withdraw case filed in SC related to sharing of Krishna & Godavari waters

Telangana has agreed to withdraw the case it filed in the Supreme Court about the sharing of waters of Krishna and Godavari rivers, enabling the Centre to go ahead with referring the issue to a tribunal, said Union Jal Shakti Minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat Tuesday.

After the second Apex Council meeting with the chief ministers of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana, Shekhawat told reporters that it was also agreed to shift the Kaveri River Management Board (KRMB) to Andhra Pradesh.

Under the Andhra Pradesh Reorganisation Act, 2014, an apex council was formed with the Union Jal Shakti minister as the chairman and the chief ministers of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana as its members. The first apex council meeting was held in 2016.

Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Y S Jagan Reddy came to Delhi to attend the meeting, while his Telangana counterpart K Chandrashekhar Rao was present virtually.

Shekhawat said the meeting turned out to be "very productive".

"With regards to sharing of water of Godavari and Krishna between the two states, the chief minister of Telangana and Andhra Pradesh agreed to withdraw the case the state has filed in the Supreme Court to enable the Centre to move forward on referring the water sharing issues to the tribunal under the Inter-state River Water Dispute Act 1956 after taking due legal opinion," Shekhawat said.

Deliberation on deciding the jurisdiction of both Godavari and Krishna Management Boards was on the agenda of Tuesday's meeting. Even after six years after the bifurcation of the state, their jurisdiction is still notified.

"The Centre will go ahead with notifying the jurisdiction of both KRMB and GRMB. The Telangana chief minister dissented on this but as the per the APRA-2014, no consensus is needed and hence the Centre will notify it," Shekhawat said.

The agenda also deliberated upon the submissions of Detailed Project Report (DPR) of new projects taken by both the states on Krishna and Godavari. As per the Act, both the KRMB and GRMB should technically appraise and clear them.

Shekhawat said both the chief ministers agreed to submit the DPRs of all the projects taken up by their respective states. He also assured them that the technical appraisal of the all the projects will be done at the shortest possible time.

The apex council is mandated to approve new projects planned by both the states on Godavari and Krishna rivers, supervise the functioning of the Godavari and Krishna Management Boards and to resolve any dispute arising out of sharing of river waters between both the states.