Krishna Water Disputes Tribunal-II prioritises water sharing issues for crucial phase of hearing

The decision is likely to influence project-wise allocation for Telangana and Andhra Pradesh under Section 89 of AP Re-organisation Act of 2014

Hyderabad: The Krishna Water Disputes Tribunal -II in its order issued on Thursday decided to hear the ‘Further Reference’ first. This decision centres around critical questions of water sharing between the States of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana, which could influence the project-wise allocation under Section 89 of the Andhra Pradesh Re-organization Act (APRA) of 2014.

The Tribunal is currently handling references under two main sections -(I) Section 89 of the Andhra Pradesh Reorganisation Act (APRA) 2014 which deals with the equitable allocation of water resources between the newly formed States of Telangana and Andhra Pradesh and (II) Section 3 of the Inter-State River Water Disputes (ISRWD) Act 1956 which pertains to the broader allocation of Krishna river water among the riparian States.

---

The Tribunal clarified that the evidence on record from the reference under Section 89 of APRA can be considered in the ‘Further Reference’. The admissibility of documents will be determined during the arguments. This move came after the Tribunal acknowledged that while some issues in the two references overlap, it would be more appropriate to handle them separately.

Telangana had requested that both references be considered together, but Andhra Pradesh objected to this even while filing a writ petition challenging the validity of the ‘Further Reference’. Telangana presented its arguments strongly before the Krishna Tribunal. For the last 10 years, the water distribution between the two States has been continuing in the ratio of 66:34 between Andhra Pradesh and Telangana. Telangana government has sought amendment to the current ratio of sharing and has strongly requested the KWDT-II to revise it and make a permanent resolution in this direction through an IA.”

Irrigation Minister N Uttam Kumar Reddy, Advocate General Sudarshan Reddy, Irrigation Advisor Aditya Nath Das, E-in-C, and others attended the hearing of the Krishna River water-sharing dispute between Telangana and Andhra Pradesh in the KWDT-2 court in Delhi on the day. Supreme Court senior counsel Vaidyanathan, former CWC Chairman Vohra, and Ravindra Rao represented Telangana.