TS-AP talks on Krishna water-sharing flounder

Officials of both TS and AP to hold another round of talks in three days

Hyderabad: The Secretary-level meeting between Andhra Pradesh and Telangana on Krishna water sharing remained inconclusive on Tuesday. Officials from the two States agreed to hold another round of talks in three or four days.

Following a directive from the Centre to the two States for arriving at a consensus on water sharing and project management in a month’s time, Telangana Special Chief Secretary S K Joshi and his AP counterpart Shashi Bhushan Kumar held a meeting at the former’s office chambers in the
Secretariat.

As the Centre has already declared the constitution of an expert committee to address water disputes between the two States, Joshi said the Telangana government would present its arguments before the committee.

Water allocations between the two States would be made based on the recommendations of the expert committee. The committee would take into consideration the Brijesh Kumar Tribunal Award before finalising the allocations.

Treading a similar path, Shashi Bhushan Kumar said the AP government had already welcomed the formation of the expert committee to address the contentious issues. His government would also explain the benefits of the management of projects on the river Krishna by the Krishna River Management Board (KRMB) to Andhra Pradesh.

It may be mentioned here that the Telangana government knocked on the doors of the Union government against the KRMB‘s unilateral decision to take over the project managements without informing Telangana. The Telangana government also opposed the draft notification issued by the board.The Union Ministry for Water Resources recently held a meeting with the two irrigation Ministers in New Delhi and instructed the KRMB to stop issuing notifications.