Revanth Reddy seeks fair share of Krishna water for Telangana

Since the Krishna basin covers 70 per cent of Telangana and 30 per cent of Andhra Pradesh, the Chief Minister appealed to Patil to allocate 70 per cent of Krishna water to the Telangana State

Hyderabad: Telangana Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy on Monday urged Union Jal Shakti Minister C. R. Patil to allocate a fair share of Krishna River water to his state.

Since the Krishna basin covers 70 per cent of Telangana and 30 per cent of Andhra Pradesh, the Chief Minister appealed to Patil to allocate 70 per cent of Krishna water to the Telangana State. The Chief Minister along with Irrigation Minister N. Uttam Kumar Reddy and Nalgonda MP Raghuveer Reddy met Patil in New Delhi and discussed issues relating to Krishna and Godavari waters.

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They requested the Union minister to safeguard the interests of Telangana in Krishna and Godavari river water sharing. CM Revanth Reddy brought to the attention of the Union Minister Krishna River Management Board’s unilateral decision to allocate 66 per cent of water to Andhra Pradesh and 34 per cent to Telangana despite most of the Krishna River’s catchment area being in Telangana.

He pleaded with the Union minister to take a decision on Andhra Pradesh projects on the Godavari River only after the finalisation of Telangana’s share in Godavari water. Stating that Telangana meted out injustice for years and Andhra Pradesh is drawing water more than allocations this year also, the CM requested the Union minister to ensure Andhra Pradesh does not draw water more than its allocation in the future.

Revanth Reddy briefed Patil about the importance of installing Telemetry immediately to ascertain the utilisation of water from the projects on river Krishna and the Telangana Government’s readiness to bear the cost of the new system if required.

The CM brought to the notice of the Union minister the submission of DPR for the Palamuru-RangaReddy lift irrigation project to the Centre in 2022 and the delay in granting permission. He informed the Union minister that permissions have been given only for Upper Bhadra, which is in the jurisdiction of the courts, and the required permission for the Sitarama Lift Irrigation and Sammakka Sagar barrages were not given.

The Union Minister was requested to grant necessary clearances from the Central Water Commission (CWC) and the Technical Advisory Board (TAC) for these three projects. The Chief Minister also informed the Jal Shakti minister that the Andhra Pradesh government designed the Godavari-Banakacherla interlinking project in violation of the provisions of the Andhra Pradesh Reorganisation Act and also did not obtain any clearances from the Central Water Commission, Godavari River Management Board (GRMB) and KRMB for this project.

Since the Sitarama Lift Project and Sammakka Sagar Project taken up on Godavari river did not get clearances yet, the CM requested the Union Minister to give clearance to these projects and also finalise assured water share of Telangana in Godavari immediately. The CM reminded that Telangana will lose ayacut stabilisation if the projects are not approved as the state already meted out injustice in Krishna water.

The Chief Minister explained to the Union Minister that the AP Godavari-Banakarla project has not been discussed in the Apex Council, where the Chief Ministers of both states are members. The CM made it clear to the Union minister that the Telangana government will not compromise on the issue of protecting its water resources.