Telangana, AP water experts to argue their cases on sharing of river water
The five-member team is expected to hold talks with Telangana on Monday and would visit Vijayawada on Tuesday.
Hyderabad: The representatives of Telangana State and Andhra Pradesh would argue their cases on the sharing of river water in front the five-member expert committee headed by former Central Water Commission chairman A.K. Bajaj.
The committee members have arrived in Hyderabad on Sunday. They are expected to hold talks with Telangana irrigation officials on Monday and would visit Vijayawada on Tuesday to hear out the version of Andhra Pradesh irrigation officials. If required, the committee would hold a joint meeting with officials of both Telangana and Andhra Pradesh in Delhi later.
The Committee was constituted by Union water resources minister Uma Bharathi, after the failure of her talks with Chief Mini-sters K. Chandrasek-har Rao and N. Chandrababu Naidu in the apex council meeting held last year.
The committee was formed to assist Krishna River Management Board (KRMB) in finding solutions to the contentious issues like Telangana’s demand for apportionment of the Godavari waters that are diverted to the Krishna basin through the Pattiseema Lift and future Polavaram Dam and to bring out an operational manual or protocol for the Inter-State dams like Srisailam and Nagarjuna Sagar. A consensus on these issues — which is highly unlikely in the present circumstances — would help the KRMB to regulate water supplies among the states.
It is also doubtful as to how far the recommendations by the Ba-jaj Committee, which is not a statutory body, would be enforceable as similar matters on sharing of water, allotments to specific projects under Krishna river are pending for adjudication before the Brijesh Kumar Tribunal and also the Supreme Court.
While granting clearance for the Polavaram Dam across the Godavari river in 1980, the Godavari Water Disputes Tribunal in the final award said that the diversion of 80 TMC ft Godavari waters from the Polavaram to Krishna basin, upper riparian states on Krishna (then Karnataka and Maharashtra, and now Telangana) can utilise 45 TMC ft out of it in addition to their share in the Krishna based projects.
After getting the sta-tehood, the Telangana government is claiming that it should get 45 TMC ft from the 80 TMC ft water diverted to the Krishna basin as it was made clear that the upper riparian state will utilise the upstream of Nagarjuna Sagar dam which is now Telangana State only. It is also demanding same share from the Pattiseema diversion to the Krishna basin.
However AP contends that Pattiseema is not a part of the Polavaram Project, and as such it need not be liable for any apportionment. On the Polavaram dam, AP contends that there is no diversion of water to Krishna basin as the project has not completed so far and still some clearances for the project are pending with the Centre and it is not bound to consider any sharing.
The committee will also have to evolve operational protocol on water releases from the Inter-State dams like Srisailam and Nagarjuna Sagar. The Telangana government wants Pulichintala dam to be included in the list as several lift irrigation sche-mes are depending on the foreshore water of Pulichintala dam.
Medigadda barrage must be 115-m high
The Telangana state government’s decision to construct a 100-metre high main barrage at Medigadda as part of the Kaleshwaram project will not serve the purpose, says an advisor to the Union water resources ministry.
Mr Vedire Sriram, the advisor for Union water resources minister Uma Bharati, felt that the barrage should be 115-metre high to make maximum utilisation of the Godavari river for various districts of Telangana.
While the Telangana state government declared new projects on Krishna and Godavari rivers at the cost of Rs 2,30,000 crore, Mr Sriram felt one-third of the budgeted amo-unt (Rs 80,000 crore) was enough to reap the benefits.
He was speaking at the launch of his book Optimal Utilization of Godavari Waters: National and Telangana Perspectives in Telugu here on Sunday. He explained that the administration should focus on constructing projects across Godavari, whose water is going into the sea without being properly utilised, than Krishna, where water availability has been observed to be less.