Ministry of Jal Shakti asks Telangana to withdraw case pending in Supreme Court
In a major decision, the Ministry of Jal Shakti (MoJS) has agreed to look into the request of Telangana to refer the matter of deciding the share of water in the Krishna River between it and Andhra Pradesh afresh under Section 3 of the Inter State River Water Disputes Act, provided Telangana withdraws its case pending in the Supreme Court.
The Centre has also agreed to consider the two States’ request to finalise the water shares in the Godavari river too. The two States have agreed to send the proposals seeking a fresh tribunal to decide the water share. As per the Inter State River Disputes Act, the Centre is empowered to take a decision handing over the matter to a tribunal even if one riparian States asks for it, within a year after getting the proposal/request.
“Telangana Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao has agreed to withdraw the case filed by the State in the apex court when we (MoJS) pointed that the Ministry can’t take decision on referring the matter to a tribunal as the matter is sub-judice. Accordingly, Mr. Rao has agreed to put in motion the case withdrawal process from tomorrow (Wednesday) itself to enable the Centre to take the matter of referring water shares to a tribunal,” Minister of Jal Shakti Gajendra Singh Shekhawat said after the meeting on Tuesday.
Once the Ministry receives the written commitment of Telangana that it would withdraw the case pending in the Supreme Court, the Centre would first take legal opinion on whether the matter of deciding the water share between the two States could be given to the existing Brijesh Kumar Tribunal or to constitute a new tribunal for the purpose, the Union Minister said, speaking after the meeting.
The Centre’s decision to consider constituting a new tribunal on Godavari water also assumes significance with AP’s objection to several projects taken up by Telangana in the basin although several of them were taken up during the combined State itself. The projects have been redesigned to suit the needs of Telangana and the location of head works of some projects were merged in AP a few months after bifurcation of the combined State.
“It’s going to be a win-win situation for Telangana as there is historical evidence of the region’s neglect in the allotment of water in the two river basins besides having more than double the catchment area compared to AP both in case of Godavari and Krishna rivers,” hoped a senior official of the Irrigation Department.