Telangana, A.P. agree to form committee to resolve water disputes

In an endeavour to resolve all issues related to water sharing between Telangana and Andhra Pradesh States, a committee comprising senior Irrigation officials and technical experts will be constituted within a week. It is likely to submit a detailed report addressing all pending issues, including projects under construction, newly proposed projects, and the management of existing ones on both the Godavari and Krishna rivers and their tributaries, informed Telangana Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy in New Delhi on Wednesday.

During a press briefing after a meeting with Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu on water issues in New Delhi, Mr. Reddy termed the decision to constitute a committee as the first step in their efforts to resolve all water disputes between the two States.

“We will take a final call on any issue only after the committee submits its report,” he said, stressing the need to honour the report.

Reiterating his government’s commitment to resolving all issues related to water sharing with Andhra Pradesh, the Chief Minister said that they were trying to find permanent solutions to all the disputes. He, however, clarified that the issue of the controversial Godavari-Banakacherla project proposed by Andhra Pradesh had not come up at the meeting, as it was not on the agenda.

In response to a query about the legal binding nature of the decisions taken at the meeting, Mr. Reddy said that the Jal Shakti Minister C.R. Patil had facilitated the meeting on behalf of the Union government, but it does not have any legal binding on either State. “However, the decisions taken at the meeting must be honoured,” he added.

Accusing the previous governments in both States of failing to resolve these issues, he alleged that Opposition parties had wished for the failure of the meeting for political gain. “But we have successfully arrived at four key resolutions — constitution of a committee, installation of telemetry equipment at all drawing points under the Krishna River, location of offices for both the Godavari River Management and Krishna River Management Boards, and repairs and rehabilitation of the Srisailam Dam, which is showing signs of damage,” he added. Irrigation Minister N. Uttam Kumar Reddy also addressed the media.