TS-AP water sharing: Second apex council meet on Tuesday

The Apex Council meeting which was scheduled to be held on August 25 to discuss river water sharing, has been deferred after the Council chairman Gajendra Singh Shekhawat tested positive for coronavirus and was hospitalised.

Hyderabad: The second meeting of the Apex Council, constituted to resolve the water sharing issues between Telangana State and Andhra Pradesh will be held on Tuesday at 11 am. Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrashekhar Rao will be participating in the meeting chaired by Union Jal Shakti Minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat, through video conference. AP Chief Minister YS Jaganmohan Reddy will be attending the meeting in a similar fashion.

The agenda points set by the Jal Shakti ministry include jurisdiction of Krishna River Management Board (KRMB) and Godavari River Management Board (GRMB), submission of the detailed project reports (DPRs) of new projects to the river managements boards, establishing a mechanism for determination of share of Krishna and Godavari waters between both the States, and shifting of KRMB headquarters to Andhra Pradesh.

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The Apex Council meeting which was scheduled to be held on August 25 to discuss river water sharing, has been deferred after the Council chairman Gajendra Singh Shekhawat tested positive for coronavirus and was hospitalised. The earlier meeting, which was scheduled for August 5, was postponed after Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrashekhar Rao requested for a change in date due to prior commitments.

The Apex Council meeting was necessitated because of the unresolved disputes between the sibling States regarding river water sharing. Telangana State urged for an early meeting to discuss the AP government’s plan to lift 3 tmc of Krishna water from the Srisailam project by enhancing the capacity of the Pothireddypadu head regulator.

1st Apex Council meeting held in 2016

Chief Ministers of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana attended the first meeting of the Apex Council formed under the provisions of the AP Reorganisation Act, 2014, to discuss irrigation projects on Krishna and Godavari rivers on September 21, 2016 in New Delhi. The Apex Council met under the Chairmanship of the then Union Water Resources Minister Uma Bharati, and Chief Minister of Telangana K Chandrasekhar Rao and the then Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu participated.

The first meeting held in a cordial manner decided to set up telemetry systems for water gauging on river Krishna to provide accurate and up to date data on flow of water in the river. The council also decided to constitute joint teams for river basin study of both the States. The joint teams were supposed to have experts from both the States and Centre. The teams will submit their report about water sharing which will be forwarded to Krishna tribunal for speedy decision.

 

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