Krishna-Godavari River Sharing To Top YS Jagan-KCR Talks

Hyderabad: Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao and his Andhra Pradesh counterpart Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy are all set to meet on Friday to discuss sharing of river water and other issues concerning the two neighbouring states.

The meeting will take place at Pragati Bhavan, the official residence-cum-camp office of Rao, official sources said . Ahead of the meeting, AP Special Chief Secretary (Irrigation) Adityanath Das met Telangana Chief Secretary SK Joshi and finalised the agenda.

Among the main issues expected to figure during Friday’s meeting between the two Chief Ministers, is one pertaining to sharing of water in Krishna and Godavari rivers.

-Telangana has been demanding KRMB (Krishan River Management Board) project-wise water allocations to utilise its share of water at optimum level.

- Another issue would be about the new projects on the two rivers and their tributaries to make optimum use of the water for different purposes. The undivided state of AP was allotted 1480 tmc ft (thousand million cubic feet) of Godavari water and 811 tmc of Krishna water by the river tribunal.

- If necessary, both state governments will construct some projects jointly for the utilisation of river water.

-The potential for diverting excess water from Godavari to Krishna river via Srisailam dam.

Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy wants more water from the Krishna River to be diverted to Rayalaseema from the Srisailam project. He made this request to his Telangana counterpart K. Chandrasekhar Rao during their preliminary discussions over river water sharing. This was to make up for the shortfall for the region by diverting water from the Godavari to the Krishna.

As per the new proposals, a lift irrigation scheme would be designed at Tupakulagudem in Telangana on Godavari to shift water up to Srisailam. As many as 400 tmc ft of water could be shifted to Srisailam during the period of 100 days from July. Nearly 3,000 tmc ft of water has been flowing into the sea every year.

The AP Chief Minister also asked KCR to remove hurdles for the Pulichintala project, saying it was the dream project of his father. The Pulichintala project is vital for farmers in the Krishna delta. Its storage capacity is 45.77 tmc ft and at present the storage is in single-digit figures.

The bone of contention between the two states is maintaining the water level in this project. AP also has to pay for the relief and rehabilitation package for about 13 villages facing threat of submergence in Nalgonda district. This will require an estimated Rs 100 crore.

In addition to river water related issues, the two Chief Ministers are expected to devote part of their meeting to discuss unresolved issues between the two States arising out of bifurcation of Andhra Pradesh.

These include the division of Rs 1.97 lakh crore worth of assets related to government companies, corporations and other institutions, listed under Schedules IX and X of AP Reorganisation Act, 2014.

Friday’s meeting of the Chief Ministers is expected to be followed by one between Chief Secretaries of the two States for follow-up action on decisions taken by Chandrashekhar Rao and YS Jagan Mohan Reddy at the meeting.