Decks cleared to resolve Krishna Water disputes between AP, Telangana

Hyderabad : Decks have been cleared to refer the Krishna River water dispute between Andhra and Telangana to the Tribunal as the Supreme Court has permitted Telangana to withdraw its case, which was filed in 2015 on the issue of water allocations.

Telangana State government had filed a petition in the Supreme Court after the Union government did not respond to its demand for constituting a new tribunal for Krishna water sharing under the Interstate River Waters Disputes Act of 1956.

At the apex council meeting held by the Centre in December 2020, the Centre agreed to look into the water reallocation plea on condition that the TS withdrew its case from the apex court. Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao had agreed to withdraw the petition in the meeting.

Union Jal Shakti Minister Gajendrasingh Shekhawat also made it clear that once Telangana withdrew its case, the Centre would seek legal opinion and decide to constitute a new tribunal, or give new terms of reference to the existing tribunal- the Krishna Water Disputes Tribunal-II, officials said a decision would be taken soon.