HYDERABAD: The Telangana government has decided to raise the issue of earlier Bachawat and Brijesh Kumar Tribunal awards and decisions on water sharing during the upcoming Krishna and Godavari river management boards meetings.
Chief minister K Chandrasekhar Rao held a meeting with irrigation department officials to discuss the strategy to be adopted at the board meetings apart from hearing on Krishna water issue in the Supreme Court and Rayalaseema Lift Irrigation Scheme (RLIS) in the National Green Tribunal (NGT) on August 9.
The state government has demanded full board meetings of both Krishna River Management Board (KRMB) and Godavari River Management Board (GRMB) before the coordination committee meetings. The government expressed its inability to attend the proposed coordination committee meetings of both the boards on August 9 due to court cases.
The CM asked the officials to emphasise the government’s stand at the boards’ meetings. He said the government would not go back and compromise on the state’s rightful share in river waters and farmers’ interests. The CM has also decided to hold another meeting on August 8.
Previously, the tribunals had clearly stated the rights of Telangana on Nagarjuna Sagar dam, carryover of unutilised waters in a water year and also accounting of drinking water. “But the decisions and awards were not being implemented till now,” the CM said. It has been decided to stress these points at board meetings. He also discussed elaborately on previous judgments on water sharing between the states.
