Telangana shuns KRMB meet
Irrigation officials of Andhra Pradesh make their way to attend Krishna River Management Board at Jalasoudha in Hyderabad on Tuesday. Photo: Adula Krishna
Hyderabad: The first joint meeting of the coordination committee of Krishna River Management Board and Godavari River Management Board failed to make any progress as the Telangana government took a tough stand and boycotted the meeting.
Telangana has been opposing the unilateral decision of the Centre establishing the jurisdictions of the Krishna River Management Board (KRMB) as well as Godavari River Management Board (GRMB) for the administration, regulation, maintenance and operation of the projects in their respective river basins.
The officials of the Telangana Irrigation department said they had informed the board that unless a full board meeting was held first, the coordination meeting would serve no purpose. They said the TS government had taken objection to the orders of the KRMB asking them to stop power generation from Srisailam hydel units.
The TS government has also raised strong objections to the enhancement of capacity of Pothireddypadu Head Regulator and the construction of 'illegal' Rayalaseema Lift Irrigation Scheme without the consent from the Centre and Telangana.
"The TS government has decided not to cooperate with the boards until their queries were addressed. The gazette issued by the Centre will only help AP to exploit the water resources at their wish and deprive Telangana of water to meet the requirements in the future," officials added.
The Union ministry earlier declared that the gazette notification would be implemented from October 14.
However, the Telangana government wants that the KRMB and GRMB should clarify their objections ahead of the date of implementation of the gazette.
The Andhra Pradesh government on the other hand raised objections to Telangana government's unilateral decision to generate hydel power at the Srisailam dam depriving them of utilising water released from the hydel units.
They also objected to the inclusion of Telangana officials in the delegation led by the KRMB which would visit the Rayalaseema Lift Irrigation Scheme (RLIS) site on Thursday (August 5). They demanded that the officials from Telangana be dropped from the delegation.
The KRMB had decided to send a delegation to the controversial RLIS site following a directive from the National Green Tribunal.