New Delhi: Chief Justice NV Ramana on Monday recused himself from hearing the Krishna River water dispute between Andhra Pradesh and Telangana saying he "belongs to both the states". He instead asked the two governments to resolve the case through mediation and offered help.
"I don't want to hear this matter legally. I belong to both the states. If the matter can be settled in mediation, please do that. We can help with that. Otherwise I will transfer this to another Bench," Justice Ramana said. "I wish that both of you convince your governments and settle the matter. We don't want to interfere unnecessarily," he said.
Also read: TDP calls Krishna Water dispute a 'drama', accuses YSRCP govt of ignoring 'unauthorised projects'
Andhra Pradesh has accused its neighbour Telangana of indiscriminately drawing water from River Krishna for generating electricty and alleged that the latter had thereby violated a 2015 agreement. Telangana was carved out of Andhra Pradesh in 2014. Sharing of water from rivers Krishna and Godavari, that flow through both the states, has been a bone of contention between the two neighbours since then.
The 2015 agreement states that water from River Krishna has to be shared between Andhras Pradesh and Telangana in the ratio 66:34, i.e 512 tmc and 299 tmc, respectively. The Andhra Pradesh government has accused Telangana of pumping more water from Srisailam, Nagarjuna Sagar and Pulichintala reservoirs -- these reservoirs are common to both states -- thus causing a major damage to downstream irrigation in its territory. Andhra Pradesh has requested the Supreme Court to issue directions to the Ministry of Jal Shakti to take control of these reservoirs.
The matter will be heard by a different bench on Wednesday, followig which Andhra Pradesh will respond.
