Krishna water: SC to hear plea on Oct. 15

The Supreme Court on Wednesday fixed for final hearing on October 15 a plea by Telangana for a fresh look at the distribution of Krishna river water with its neighbours Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh and Maharashtra.

Claiming before a bench led by Justice Dipak Misra that the right to access water is a human rights issue, the Telangana government said previous dispute proceedings and orders of the Krishna Water Tribunals should be set aside in the light of the bifurcation of the State of Andhra Pradesh and formation of the new State of Telangana.

Telangana sought the issuance of a mandamus to Union government to notify the setting up of a fresh tribunal under the Inter-State River Water Disputes Act of 1956 to decide the issue the of sharing the river water among the four neighbouring States of Maharashtra, Karnataka, AP and Telangana. It said that under the 1956 Act, the Union, once it gets a complaint or a reference in relation to the sharing of water between two States, has to refer the case to a tribunal formed under the statute.