Bias over water allocation led to TS movement: KCR

Hyderabad: Chief Minister K. Chandrashekar Rao said that the Telangana Government would prefer to resolve the water disputes with its neighboring States by holding dialogue instead of fighting legal battles.

Interacting with the members of Bajaj Committee, which was constituted by the Centre to resolve dispute over distribution of Krishna River water, at Pragathi Bhavan on Wednesday, the Chief Minister said officials of both the States could sit, discuss and resolve the issue of distribution of Krishna water.

Stating that Telangana wants water but not disputes, he said the interest of farmers of any State was equally important to him. He said there was availability of nearly 4,000 TMC of water from rivers Krishna and Godavari.

Of this, nearly 2,000 to 3,000 TMC of water goes waste into the sea. Therefore, he said TS Government was making efforts to make full utilisation of the water.

The Chief Minister advised Bajaj Committee to convince Andhra Pradesh Government to make use of Godavari waters by shifting it to coastal Andhra and Rayalaseema.

He said that the discrimination over allocation of water was one of the major reasons for Telangana movement. Therefore, he said his government was trying to undo the injustices done to Telangana in the past.

KCR said there should be clarity on how water would be distributed during drought season and also how surplus water would be utilised.

He said that the inflows into Telangana got reduced due to construction of multiple dams in Karnataka and Maharashtra. He also sought the intervention of Central Government on the issue.