Telangana, Andhra agree to divert Godavari water to Krishna

Telangana and Andhra Pradesh Chief Ministers on Friday decided to divert water from the Godavari river to Krishna river to tide over the water scarcity in parts of both the Telugu states.

This was decided during the talks between Telangana Chief Minister K. Chandrashekhar Rao and his Andhra Pradesh counterpart Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy here. They discussed various outstanding inter-state issues.

They directed the officials concerned to prepare a strategy to divert water from Godavari to Srisailam reservoir across Krishna.

The availability of water in Krishna is less, which is causing hardships to the Rayalaseema region in Andhra Pradesh, Palamuru and United Nalgonda districts in Telangana, said a statement from the office of Telangana Chief Minister.

The Chief Ministers of the two Telugu states, accompanied by their respective ministers, senior officials and advisors, held the first-ever official talks for over five hours at Pragati Bhavan, the official residence of Chandrashekhar Rao.

Both the Chief Ministers asserted that it would be their endeavour to ensure total and efficient utilisation of water resources available so that there was no scarcity of water for agriculture, industries and for the drinking water purposes in both the states.

They announced that the disputes and issues pertaining to river water sharing have been forgotten in the spirit of "let bygones be bygones" and both the states were in unanimity to get optimum benefit to both the states and its people.

KCR, as the Telangana Chief Minister is popularly known, said in his opening remarks that ever since the recent elections in Andhra Pradesh, there has been a qualitative change in relations between the two states.

"There are no egos, no disputes over the water basins, no apprehensions, there is no need for differences or disputes. If we want disputes we cannot give water to our next generations. 

"KCR and Jagan will not think about themselves. They think from the people's point of view. People have voted for us, they have put their trust in us. It is our responsibility to do good for them," he said.

"We have decided to provide water to people in both the states at a lower cost. Problems of water for the irrigation sector should be solved with the best and simple methods. Water level is going down in Krishna river. It may further get reduced in the years to come. Hence the governments have firmly resolved to utilise water from Godavari river to mitigate water problems," said Jagan Reddy.

KCR gave a power point presentation on the availability water in the rivers.

"There is availability of 4,000 TMC of water in Krishna and Godavari. By utilising this quantity of water both the states can become very fertilie. We have water available in abundance. 

"About 3,000 TMC of water is goes into the sea every year. We have to utilise that. We need to have wisdom to utilise that water. It all depends on our efficiency on how much water we can use. 

"There is no use in running around the Tribunals and Courts for sharing water. If both the states think and walk together it is enough. It is enough if both have unanimity on utilisation of water in the two rivers for the benefit of people in both the states," said KCR.

The Telangana CM said the Centre was bringing a proposal on connectivity of rivers. "After our rivers fulfil our needs, then we can think of the Centre's proposal," he added.

Though Chandrashekhar Rao and Jagan Reddy met several times since the latter formed the government in Andhra Pradesh a month ago, this is the first full-fledged talks between them to sort out inter-state issues.

Both the leaders have already agreed to solve all the outstanding issues amicably and foster good neighbourly relations for the welfare of people of both the states. IANS