TG govt flip flops on demand; to attend Delhi meet on water rows

The Telangana government took a ‘U’-turn on its earlier stance and decided to attend the first official high-level committee meeting on water-sharing disputes between the two Telugu states and the Ministry of Jal Shakti in New Delhi on January 30.

Earlier, the government had threatened to boycott the meeting if the Centre did not stop Andhra Pradesh from taking up the controversial Polavaram Nallamala Sagar project. Now, state irrigation officials have prepared documentary evidence to highlight Andhra Pradesh’s alleged illegal projects during the meeting.

Following reports that the first meeting will primarily focus on finalising the agenda on water-sharing issues, the Telangana Irrigation Department plans to present details of the projects taken up by the Andhra Pradesh government without water allocations after the bifurcation of the state in 2014. Officials will also highlight Andhra Pradesh’s swift move to obtain approvals for the Polavaram Nallamala Sagar project without specific allocations from the Godavari River. Secretary to Irrigation Rahul Bojja and State Advisor (Irrigation) Adityanath Das have been preparing a detailed note on water issues, mainly focusing on the construction of projects without water allocations by the Andhra Pradesh government.

Submergence of villages in Telangana under the Polavaram project, pending approval of the Palamuru Rangareddy Lift Irrigation Scheme, and excess utilisation of Krishna river water by Andhra Pradesh are expected to be raised in the first meeting.

Telangana faced a major setback as the Supreme Court recently dismissed the state’s petition against the Polavaram Nallamala Sagar project. Officials said the big challenge before the Telangana government is to stall Andhra Pradesh’s project through dialogue at the first high-level committee meeting.

Telangana irrigation officials will also bring to the attention of the Union Jal Shakti Ministry the ongoing hearings before the Krishna Water Dispute Tribunal and Andhra Pradesh’s exploitation of river waters.

The Union government had constituted the committee to comprehensively address key issues concerning water management and suggest viable solutions for equitable and efficient sharing of river waters.