The Union Ministry of Water Resources, River Development, and Ganga Rejuvenation has constituted a committee of irrigation, hydrology, and hydel power experts to suggest a “mechanism for facilitating the effective functioning of the Krishna River Management Board (KRMB) as per the provisions of the Andhra Pradesh Reorganisation Act, 2014.” Former chairman of the Central Water Commission (CWC) A.D. Mohile has been appointed Chairman of the five-member committee. The Union Government, in an office memorandum dated September 7, has asked the committee to submit its recommendations “within a period of 90 days.”
The expert committee has been asked to prepare a “Manual on Operating Rules/Procedures in respect of common projects located on River Krishna.” The committee has also been asked to report on the “allocation of Godavari waters being transferred to the Krishna Basin in accordance with the Godavari Water Disputes Tribunal Award, 1980.” The amount of water being transferred from the Godavari to the Krishna basin is a bone of contention between the sibling States.
While Telangana claims that Andhra Pradesh is transferring huge amounts of water, the latter contends that it is a matter to be discussed by the Godavari River Management Board, which has not been constituted yet.
Advice to A.P., TS
The Union government has urged both the States to provide all support and information to enable the committee to complete its assigned task. The Centre has asked them to provide all data required by the committee in the stipulated format. The Centre has also empowered the committee to take the help of the Central Water Commission and other State and Central agencies to fulfil its task.
The other experts on the committee are former CWC member M. Gopala Krishnan, NIH scientist M.K. Goel, and CWC Director (Hydrology) N.N. Rai. The fifth member is to be nominated by the Ministry of Power.
Central government asks the committee to submit its recommendations
in three months
