Hyderabad: Telangana Minister for Irrigation and Civil Supplies N Uttam Kumar Reddy on Sunday asserted that the government would take necessary steps to safeguard the water rights and interests of people of the state in Krishna basin.
The Minister emphasised on the need for Telangana to get its legitimate share in the waters of Krishna as per the basin parameters and the in-basin demands, to mitigate the distress and hardships faced by its people in Krishna basin, and there should be no compromise on this matter.
Uttam Kumar Reddy, reviewed the progress of inter-state issues related to Krishna water disputes with senior advocates C S Vaidyanathan and V Ravinder Rao, Advisor Adityanath Das, Secretary Rahul Bojja and other legal team members here, an official release said.
Vaidyanathan briefly explained the status of various issues before Krishna Water Disputes Tribunal-II (KWDT-II) and Supreme Court and suggested the way forward. The meeting decided to pursue the matter before KWDT-II seeking for interim revision of ratio as at least 50:50, until the final allocations are made, it said.
The Minister reiterated the stand of the government and also the resolution passed in the Legislative Assembly on February 12, 2024, that the government is not going to handover any components in Srisailam and Nagarjuna Sagar Project (NSP) to Krishna River Management Board (KRMB).
The matter of KWDT-II decision (Civil appeals) pending before the Supreme Court was also discussed and Vaidyanathan suggested that Maharashtra and Karnataka states may also be approached directly to resolve the issues amicably through dialogue, which the Minister also found worth pursuing and directed to initiate appropriate action in that direction.
Uttam Kumar Reddy advised the legal team and technical team to put all their efforts in achieving equitable and legitimate share for Telangana in Krishna River waters. He further directed to pursue all the issues aggressively without any compromise before both the Tribunal and the Supreme Court, the release added.
