In the wake of the Centre’s directive to hammer out a solution in one month on the controversial turned Krishna River water allocation and distribution, the officials of the Irrigation departments of the two Telugu States today held a crucial meeting and found no headway.
The Centre has already constituted an expert committee on the issue to prepare modalities in a month. Based on this committee’s guidelines, the two States will have to follow the norms of allocation and use of waters. It may be said here that the Union Water Resources Ministry, on receiving a complaint from the Telangana Government, has shown the door to Krishna River Water Management Board official for being partisan towards Telangana and doing favor to Andhra Pradesh State. Without the Centre’s suggestion the board sought to press Telangana to accept a unilateral notification prepared in violation of norms.
Telangana Irrigation Principal Secretary SK Joshi and Secretary Vikas Raj and Andhra Pradesh Irrigation secretary Shashi Bhushan held discussion on the issue and decided to meet again in two or three days. The meeting was held following a directive from Union Waters Resources Minister Uma Bharathi to the two states to hammer out a solution by sitting across the table in a month.
SK Joshi later stated that the Centre has to take a final call on water distribution row. He said they will sit again in two to three days on the Krishna water issue to find a solution. “We welcome the Centre’s decision for an expert committee that will have its say and we have to abide by its direction”, he maintained. On receiving the guidelines from the expert committee, the two States will put forth their arguments paving the way for a solution, he said. (NSS)