Telangana and Andhra Pradesh governments jointly decide of Godavari-Krishna river linkage

The Chief Ministers of the two sibling States, in their one-on-one meeting, decided to continue their 'give-and-take' policy to benefit the people of both the States.
Telangana CM K Chandrasekhar Rao and IT Minister KT Rama Rao welcoming Andhra Pradesh CM YS Jagan Mohan Reddy at Pragathi Bhavan in Hyderabad on Monday| Express
Telangana CM K Chandrasekhar Rao and IT Minister KT Rama Rao welcoming Andhra Pradesh CM YS Jagan Mohan Reddy at Pragathi Bhavan in Hyderabad on Monday| Express

HYDERABAD: Diversion of Godavari water to Krishna river basin is on, but the tricky issue of how has not yet been finalised.

The Chief Ministers of the two sibling States of Telangana and AP - K Chandrasekhar Rao and YS Jagan Mohan Reddy - met at Pragathi Bhavan here on Monday and went through the proposal of interlinking the two rivers and discussed other issues for over six hours.

The leaders, in their one-on-one meeting, decided to continue their "give-and-take" policy to benefit the people of both the States. They noted with concern the dwindling water level in the Krishna and the heightened need for linking Godavari with Krishna to meet the drinking and irrigational requirements of both the States, an official press release said.

They also discussed threadbare the pending issues of Schedule IX and X of the AP Reorganisation Act-2014, the State and national politics and other issues of immediate concern. They decided to resolve the pending issues amicably at the earliest.As expected, the issue that dominated their discussion was the interlinking of the two major rivers that pass through Telangana and Andhra Pradesh.

“The availability of water in Krishna river is not the same every year. The Krishna river projects in the Telugu States are barely receiving water most of the years. As a result, the farmers in Rayalaseema region in Andhra Pradesh and in erstwhile Mahabubnagar and Nalgonda districts in Telangana are suffering.

It is wise to divert Godavari water to Krishna basin and supply it to farmers under Krishna basin. This will guarantee irrigation water to Rayalaseema, Palamuru and Nalgonda farmers. Besides utilising the Nagarjunasagar project and Srisailam, the Godavari water can be diverted to Krishna basin in real-time with less expenditure,” said Jagan Mohan Reddy and Chandrasekhar Rao.

However, the official release from the Telangana CMO stated that the decision on the alignment and the way water should be diverted would be taken after thorough discussion in their next meeting.

Both the Chief Ministers felt that there was unnecessary tussle over the pending issues of the AP Reorganisation Act. They should be resolved with cooperation and understanding. "It’s not a difficult task to resolve the pending issues," they felt.

Jagan and KCR spoke with Chief Secretaries of their respective States and wanted them to convene an official meeting soon to resolve the pending issues of the institutions listed in IX and X Schedule of the AP Reorganisation Act. Accordingly, AP Chief Secretary would soon visit Hyderabad.

According to an official release from the AP CMO, both the CMs discussed the promotions of police officials. The AP release said the diversion of Godavari water would be taken up without compromising the rights of both the States. For linking Godavari with Krishna, the engineers of both the States would soon meet and prepare a constructive plan, the AP release added.

Jagan was accompanied by YSRCP general secretary and MP V Vijayasai Reddy and MP V Prabhakar Reddy on his visit to Pragathi Bhavan, who were welcomed by KCR and TRS working president KT Rama Rao and TRS MP J Santosh Kumar.

At Pragathi Bhavan, Vijayasai Reddy touching Telangana Chief Minister’s feet seeking his blessings and TRS MP Santosh Kumar taking a selfie with KTR and Jagan Mohan Reddy went viral on social media.

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