Telangana requests KRMB to postpone the full board meeting scheduled for August 9

The meeting was convened to discuss the implementation of various clauses contained in the gazette notification issued by the Centre on July 15 when it notified the jurisdiction of the river board.

Telangana Chief Minister K. Chandrashekar Rao during his visit to his adopted village Vasalamarri in Yadadri Bhuvanagiri district on August 4.

The Telangana government has requested the Krishna River Management Board (KRMB) to postpone the full board meeting scheduled to be held on August 9. The meeting was convened to discuss the implementation of various clauses contained in the gazette notification issued by the Centre on July 15 when it notified the jurisdiction of the river board.

In a letter written by C. Muralidhar, Telangana Engineer-in-Chief, Irrigation (General), to M.P. Singh, Chairman of the KRMB, on August 6, the State expressed its inability to attend the 13th meeting (emergency) of the KRMB.

Telangana cited the cases involving the State that are coming up before the Southern Zone Bench of the National Green Tribunal, the issue of contempt in the matter of Andhra Pradesh carrying out work in its Rayalaseema Lift Irrigation Scheme (RLIS) and the withdrawal petition over the sharing of Krishna waters in the Supreme Court that is coming up for hearing on August 9 as reasons for requesting a postponement.

Telangana’s postponement request comes a day after a similar request was made by the State, citing the same reasons, to the Godavari River Management Board (GRMB).

The Centre had notified on July 15 the jurisdiction of the two water management boards—KRMB and GRMB—that were constituted under Section 87 of the Andhra Pradesh Reorganisation Act, 2014. The two boards, effective from October 14, will be empowered to operate the headworks of barrages, dams, reservoirs, regulating structures, part of canal networks, transmission lines and the power houses at the 107 projects in the two river basins.

The gazette notification also specifies that the two riparian States will transfer a one-time seed money of Rs.200 crore each to the two boards. Both States are hedging and are yet to make up their mind on transferring the money. The two States have serious misgivings over the Centre’s decision to include some projects under the KRMB and GRMB, especially the clause that stipulates that the member States have to submit details (project reports) of these projects to the respective boards.