Andhra Pradesh to insist on judicial share of Krishna water

Amaravati: The stage is set for the Apex Council meeting in which the two Telugu Chief Ministers will participate. The meeting, to be chaired by Union Jal Shakti Minister Gajendra Sigh Shekhawat, will address the interstate disputes on water sharing by the two states.

AP Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy, who is in Delhi now, will participate in the virtual meeting from his Delhi residence. It is learnt that he would insist on the judicial share of Krishna waters to Andhra Pradesh.

The Chief Minister after a meeting with top officials of the Irrigation department, including Special Chief Secretary (Irrigation) Adityanath Das, decided that they should once again put forward their strong objection to the Kaleshwaram lift irrigation project being constructed across river Godavari.

The meeting is learnt to have decided to ask the Centre to take up the responsibility of operation of projects constructed over river Krishna and that the Apex Council should clearly explain their jurisdiction. Similarly, the AP government will also ask the council to shift the office of Krishna Board to Vijayawada. The Chief Minister is also likely to oppose the demand of Telangana CM K Chandrasekhar Rao seeking control over operation and management of the Srisailam dam.

The AP government, it may be recalled, had complained to the Godavari River Management Board against nine Telangana projects — Kaleshwaram Lift Irrigation Scheme (KLIS), GLIS phase-3, Sita Rama Lift Irrigation Scheme, Tupakulagudem, Telangana Drinking Water Supply Project, three barrages on the Lower Penganga river — Rajupet (Bhimkund), Chanaka-Korata and Pimparad-Parsoda — and the Ramappa to Pakhal Lake diversion.

It also complained against the Palamuru Ranga Reddy Lift Irrigation Scheme, Dindi Lift Irrigation Scheme, Bhaktha Ramadas Lift Irrigation Scheme, Water Grid Project taken up under Mission Bhagiratha, Thummilla Lift Irrigation Scheme, enhancing the scope of the Mahatma Gandhi Kalwakurthi Lift Irrigation Scheme (MGKLIS) and the Nettempadu Lift Irrigation Scheme over river Krishna.