Centre should set up tribunal on Krishna water: Harish Rao

Hyderabad: Finance and Health Minister T Harish Rao on Friday demanded that the Centre should set up a tribunal to address the Krishna river water dispute. He told the media that the Centre deliberately delayed the case for seven years. Repeated appeals to the Centre on the same have been ignored so far, he charged.

"The Centre should set up a tribunal to give our share of water through the Krishna Basin", Rao said. The minister stated that Telangana was not getting its share as AP government was taking away water to the Penna region from the Krishna basin. "The Centre ignored our repeated pleas as then minister Uma Bharathi did not take any action on the same". The minister pointed out that Union Water Resources Minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat had taken the matter personally and said that Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao delayed it. "However, there is no truth in those comments as the Centre did not take necessary action after our appeal on the issue. Our State was formed only for water, funds and jobs", he claimed.

"Though the State is seeking the Centre to set up a tribunal to address its water share, he asked. "Why the case will be delayed if the Centre took immediate action in 2014 after our appeal on the same", Rao said. "Now that the State has withdrawn its case from the Supreme Court and there is no issue, the Centre should immediately set up a tribunal to resolve the Krishna water row, he demanded.