HYDERABAD: Finance and health minister T. Harish Rao on Friday refuted charges made by Union jal shakti minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat that Telangana government was responsible for the delay in resolving their water-sharing disputes with Andhra Pradesh. He demanded the Centre to set up a new tribunal to address Krishna river water dispute without any further delay.
Shekhawat on Thursday held TS government responsible for the seven-year delay in resolving water disputes stating that the delay was due to Telangana government filing a case in Supreme Court on Krishna water sharing issue in 2015. It was cleared in October after the TS government withdrew the case.
Addressing a press conference in Siddipet, Harish Rao said that the Telangana government was forced to move the Supreme Court as there was no response or initiative from the Centre to resolve the dispute despite repeated requests.
"We took up Krishna water issue with the Centre within 42 days of the state’s formation in June 2014. We waited for 13 months for the Centre's response before approaching the apex court. Where was the need for us to move the Supreme Court had the Centre acted on our requests promptly?" Rao quipped.
Advising Shekhawat not to take the comments made by Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao on Krishna water issue 'personally', Rao said.
"The Centre has been sitting on this issue for seven years. They reacted only in October 2020 in the apex council meeting, when they asked the Telangana government to withdraw the case from the Supreme Court for early end to the fracas. Believing in your words, the Chief Minister withdrew the case. Instead of dilly-dallying, the Centre should make a sincere effort to resolve the Krishna water dispute by referring the water sharing issue to a new tribunal."
The minister claimed that Telangana was not getting its due share in Krishna as Andhra Pradesh government was diverting water to Penna region from Krishna basin.
