- On the evening of the 6th of October, the Apex Council meeting regarding the water dispute between the two Telugu states, Andhra Pradesh and Telangana, concluded.
The meeting was chaired by the Jal Shakti Union Minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat and was attended by the Telangana Chief Minister K. Chandrashekar Rao and the Andhra Pradesh CM Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy.
Besides CM KCR and CM Jagan Mohan Reddy, Anil Kumar, the Irrigation Minister of Andhra Pradesh and SecretaryAdityanath Das were also present at the meeting.
Mr. Gajendra Singh addressed both the Telugu CMs through videoconferencing.
The meeting discussed the ongoing issue of illegal projects on the Rivers Krishna and Godavari and water issues. The illegal construction and projects on the banks of the Krishna and the Godavari Rivers by the Telangana Government and the Andhra Pradesh Government is a long pending matter.
The governments of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana even reported the issue of illegal projects with the Krishna River Management Board (KRMB,) the Godavari River Management Board (GRMB) and the Apex Council. Both the governments demanded to stop the construction of the projects.
After the meeting, Union Minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat held a press meet and briefed about the updates of the meeting.
Mr. Shekhawat said, “We have fully discussed the water disputes between Telangana and Andhra Pradesh.”
The Union Minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat said a solution and detailed discussion was held in the meeting.
Mr. Shekawat clarified that the Apex Council has the power to give permission for any projects to be built on the Krishna and Godavari rivers.
Mr. Shekhawat said, “There was a discussion on notifying the scope of Krishna and Godavari river boards. These have not been notified due to disputes for six years. We are notifying these today with the consensus of the CMs of the two states. The CMs of the two states have agreed to submit DPRs on new projects related to the Krishna and Godavari rivers.”
The proposals for new projects would be discussed only after the DPRs submission to the Krishna and Godavari river boards in advance.
The meeting concluded with a plan for the distribution of Krishna and Godavari water to Telangana and Andhra Pradesh. With the approval of both the Telugu state CMs, the Krishna River Board would be shifted to Andhra Pradesh from Hyderabad.
In addition, K. Chandrashekar Rao also agreed to withdraw the petition filed in the Supreme Court on the water distribution dispute against the Andhra Pradesh Government and CM.
Stay tuned for further updates.
