AP vs Telangana: The Blame Game Begins!

Chief Ministers of the two Telugu states, who shared bonhomie for the last one year after the general elections, are now locking horns over the critical issue of sharing Krishna waters.

AP Chief Minister Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy issued GO No. 203 to construct a lift irrigation scheme to divert Krishna water from the Srisailam project, which is shared by both the states. Reddy even expressed readiness to release funds for the project which would provide water to Rayalaseema, an area that faces water crisis almost throughout the year.

Taking objection to it, his TS counterpart K. Chandrashekar Rao instructed the officials to approach the Krishna Water Disputes Tribunal (KWDT) and challenge AP’s decision in the Supreme Court.

Rao said that the AP government had taken the decision unilaterally and that it was committing a “grave mistake” by doing so, in violation of the rights of Telangana and the provisions of the AP Reorganisation Act, 2014. He reminded that the Reorganisation Act insists that either of the states should consult the apex committee if it wanted to build a project on River Krishna.