Centre to notify jurisdiction of KRMB, GRMB despite TS opposition
Both the Chief Ministers agreed to submit DPRs of all new projects and technical appraisal will be done without delay: Shekhawat
Hyderabad: UnionJal Shakti Minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat on Tuesday said the Centre will soon notify the jurisdictions of the Krishna River Management Board (KRMB) and Godavari River Management Board (GRMB) “as per the provisions of the Andhra Pradesh Reorganisation Act” despite objections raised by Telangana State government.
Addressing the media after a two-hour second Apex Council meeting held after a gap of four years in New Delhi, in which Chief Minister K Chandrashekhar Rao and his counterpart from Andhra Pradesh YS Jaganmohan Reddy participated via video conference, the Union Minister said the meeting was held in a very cordial atmosphere and that the discussions were limited to four agenda points as announced earlier.
“The Centre will go ahead and notify the jurisdiction of KRMB and GRMB. Telangana Chief Minister objected to it, but we said that as per the Reorganisation Act, there is no need of a consensus and the Centre can issue the notification. He finally agreed to it,” Shekhawat said. About the second agenda point regarding the submission of Detailed Project Reports (DPR) of new projects, Shekhawat said that both Chief Ministers agreed to submit DPRs of all new projects taken up and the Jal Shakti ministry assured them that technical appraisal of all projects will be done in the shortest time without causing any delay.
With regard to sharing of Krishna and Godavari river waters between the sibling States, the Minister said Chandrashekhar Rao agreed to withdraw the case filed by the State in the Supreme Court immediately, enabling the Jal Shakti ministry to refer the issue to the Tribunal as per Section 3 of the Interstate River Water Disputes (ISRWD) Act 1956. He said the Ministry will take further steps after taking legal opinion.
With regard to sharing of Godavari water between the two States, Shekhawat said that he asked both the Chief Ministers to send requests to the ministry so that centre can refer the same to the Tribunal as per the ISRWD Act. “Chandrashekhar Rao said his government will send the request within a day,” he said.
Mechanism of Sharing
With regard to establishing a mechanism for determination of share of Krishna and Godavari waters between the Telugu States, the Centre proposed that both States have a limited role as water allocation was done by the respective tribunals. In case of Krishna, allocations done by the Krishna Water Disputes Tribunal (KWDT)-I are in force and KWDT-II was presently hearing the matter of water allocation between the States and once its award is published, that will come into force, he said.
In case of Godavari waters, the Godavari Water Disputes Tribunal (GWDT) has not given any en bloc allocations of the river waters. The Centre made it clear that appraisal of DPRs are essential for en bloc and project-wise allocation of waters. The Centre’s argument was that any project on inter-State rivers taken up by any State in the country entails statutory clearances such as hydrology, investment interstate and environment clearances. The Jal Shakti ministry proposed that all those projects that had water allocations from KWDT-I and those mentioned in Schedule XI of the APRA 2014 be considered as old projects.
Mooting the establishment of a new Tribunal, Shekhawat said that since both the states complained against each other, the Apex Council was mandated under APRA-2014 to amicably resolve such issues. “We have proposed that a mechanism for sharing waters in Godavari basin between the two States is necessary and has given two options, either by mutual agreement or the Centre setting up a new tribunal to decide on it,” he said. The Centre also said that a mechanism needs to be worked out for sharing 45 tmc of Godavari water diverted by AP from river Godavari to river Krishna (Polavaram to Prakasam barrage).
KRMB office to shift to AP
He then said that both the States have agreed to shift the KRMB headquarters to Andhra Pradesh as per the provisions of the Reorganization Act. Answering a question on AP government’s move to expand Pothireddypadu and build Rayalaseema Lift Irrigation Scheme, he said that any new project taken up by either State need to undergo similar process which is submitting DPRs, and taking approval from the Apex Council. “They have to comply with the laid down procedure,” he said. Responding to the demand made by Telangana Chief Minister seeking operation control of Srisailam project, the Minister said that management of the projects will be handled by the respective boards.
Summing up the outcome of the meeting, he said that the Ministry would like to have Apex council meetings at least once in a year. ” We want that issues wont pile up because of the delay in sitting of the Apex Council,” the Minister said.
The Minister in a separate Statement has said that there were media reports that the centre has not done nothing so far to resolve water disputes between the Telugu States. “We would like to say that the Centre always tries to help and resolve the issues. There are certain rules, acts and dictums mandated by the law of the land and if they are not followed by anyone of the State , then it would set a wrong precedent. If we do it right, it would set a good precedent,” Shekhawat said.
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