Cabinet Approves Krishna Water Disputes Tribunal Terms of Reference

New Delhi: The Union Cabinet chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi has approved the issue of further Terms of Reference (ToR) to the existing Krishna Water Disputes Tribunal-II (KWDT-II) under section 5(1) of the ISRWD Act for its adjudication between the States of Telangana and Andhra Pradesh (AP). This is based on receipt of the legal opinion and in light thereof on the issues raised by Government of Telangana (GoT) in their complaint under section (3) of the Inter State River Water Disputes (ISRWD) Act, 1956.

The resolution of dispute between the two States on the use, distribution or control of Krishna river waters will open new avenues of growth in both the States of Telangana and AP and will be beneficial for the people of both these States, thus helping in building our country stronger.

Krishna Water Disputes Tribunal-II was constituted by the Central Government on 02.04.2004 on requests made by the party States under Section 3 of the ISRWD Act, 1956. Subsequently, on 02.06.2014, Telangana, as a State of the Union of India, came into existence. As per section 89 of the Andhra Pradesh Reorganization Act (APRA), 2014, the tenure of the KWDT-II was extended to address the clauses (a) and (b) of the said section of APRA, 2014.

Subsequently, Government of Telangana (GoT) forwarded a complaint on 14.07.2014 to the Department of Water Resources, River Development & Ganga Rejuvenation (DoWR, RD & GR), Ministry of Jal Shakti (MoJS), Govt. of India, referring the dispute on the use, distribution or control of Krishna river waters. A Writ Petition was also filed in the matter by GoT in the Hon’ble Supreme Court (SC) in 2015. In 2018, GoT further requested DoWR, RD & GR, MoJS to refer the complaint to the existing KWDT-II by confining the scope of reference between the States of Telangana and Andhra Pradesh only. The matter was later discussed in the 2nd Apex Council meeting in 2020 held under the Hon’ble Minister (Jal Shakti). As discussed during the 2nd Apex Council meeting, GoT withdrew the said Writ Petition in 2021 and subsequently, legal opinion of Ministry of Law & Justice (MoL&J) was sought by DoWR, RD & GR in the matter.