CM KCR asserts that he would go to any extent to save the interests of the farmers

Chief Minister K Chandrashekhar Rao has asserted that that he would go to any extent to save the interests of the farmers and farming of the State, even if it meant picking up a fight with God himself.

Reiterating his stand to protect every single drop of river water that legitimately belongs to the State, he has directed officials to prepare a strong argument to present before the Apex Council meeting on river water disputes between Telugu States scheduled for October 6.

Speaking at a high level meeting with officials from Water Resources Department at Pragathi Bhavan on Thursday, Chief Minister recalled that the movement for separate Telangana was originated from discrimination against the region in the matters of river water sharing. 

“After the State was formed there was a festive atmosphere in the agriculture sector with farmers of Telangana reaping bumper crops and becoming a role model for the entire country,” he said. Chief Minister said that Telangana transformed into a granary of the country and the State succeeded in strengthening the water resources sector by saving every single drop of the river water.

“”The rightful share of every drop of water from Godavari and Krishna rivers would be utilised optimally and without fail,” Chief Minister said. The Chief Minister also finalised the required strategy to adopt at the Apex Council meeting. In this direction, he has instructed the officials to put forth a powerful argument supported by all the required data before the Apex Council meeting.

The second meeting of the Apex Council, constituted to resolve the water sharing issues between Telangana and Andhra Pradesh will be chaired by the Union Jal Shakti Minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat. Chief Ministers K Chandrashekhar Rao and YS Jaganmohan Reddy



will be attending the meeting via video conference.

The meeting was necessitated because of the unresolved disputes between the sibling States regarding river water sharing. Telangana State urged for an early meeting to discuss the AP government’s plan to lift 3 tmc of Krishna water from the Srisailam project by enhancing the capacity of the Pothireddypadu head regulator. However AP government responded raising questions about Telangana’s redesigned projects including Kaleshwaram that have obtained all required approvals from the Centre.

The agenda points mentioned by the Jal Shakti Ministry include jurisdiction of Krishna River Management Board (KRMB) and Godavari River Management Board (GRMB), submission of the detailed project reports (DPRs) of new projects to the river managements boards, establishing a mechanism for determination of share of Krishna and Godavari waters between both the States, and shifting of KRMB headquarters to Andhra Pradesh.

The Apex Council meeting which was scheduled to be held on August 25 to discuss river water sharing, has been deferred after the Council chairman Gajendra Singh Shekhawat tested positive for coronavirus and was hospitalised. The earlier meeting, which was scheduled for August 5, was postponed after Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrashekhar Rao requested for a change in date due to prior commitments.

In the review meeting, State Planning Commission Vice Chairman B Vinod Kumar, MLAs Abraham, Surender, government’s Chief Advisor Rajiv Sharma, CMO officials Narsing Rao, Bhoopal Reddy, Advisor (Water Resources) SK Joshi, Principal Secretary (Water Resources) Rajat Kumar, E-in-Cs Muralidhar Rao, B Nagender Rao, Hariram Naik, Chief Engineers Narsimha, Shankar, OSD Sridhar Deshpande and others participated.