High-level committee on river water issue to meet on Jan 30

Hyderabad: The first meeting of the high-level committee on river water issues comprising the officials of Central Water Commission (CWC), Krishna River Management Board (KRMB), Godavari River Management Board (GRMB), Andhra and Telangana irrigation officials will be held in New Delhi on January 30. The Telangana government is gearing up to raise strong objections to Andhra Pradesh’s Polavaram-Nallamala Sagar link project in the meeting, while Andhra Pradesh is expected to raise issues from its side.

Telangana’s state Irrigation Secretary Rahul Bojja and Advisor (irrigation) Adityanath Das are already busy preparing a note on water issues, mainly the construction of projects by the AP government without proper water allocations from the Centre. Submergence of villages in Telangana under Polavaram project, pending approvals of Palamuru-Rangareddy Lift Irrigation project, excess utilization of river Krishna water by AP, etc., would be highlighted by the Telangana government in the first meeting.

Telangana received a major setback as the Supreme Court dismissed its petition against Polavaram-Nallamala Sagar project recently.

Officials said that the big challenge before the Telangana government is to stall the AP’s project through a dialogue in the first high-level committee meeting.

The Telangana irrigation officials will also bring to the attention of the Union Jal Shakti Ministry about the ongoing hearing and arguments before Krishna Water Dispute Tribunal (KWDT) and the exploitation of the water resources by the AP. The Union Government constituted the committee to address key issues concerning water management comprehensively and to suggest viable solutions for equitable and efficient sharing of river waters between the Telugu states. The committee was also asked to submit its report within three months of notification.

The Chairpersons of KRMB and GRMB, the Chief Engineer of the National Water Development Agency (NWDA), and the Chief Engineer of the Central Water Commission (CWC) were already asked to furnish the status report of the utilization of Krishna and Godavari waters by the two states and legal disputes in the construction of the projects on the two rivers by the two Telugu states.