The Andhra Pradesh Government earlier this week on 15th July 2021, Thursday filed a Writ Petition under Article 32 of the Indian Constitution before the Apex Court over the Krishna river water sharing dispute with the Government of Telangana. The Andhra Pradesh Government alleged that the Government of Telangana has breached the 2015 Agreement between both the States which has set out rules for the integrated operation of the reservoirs for generating hydel power and other purposes for both the States.
The erstwhile State of Andhra Pradesh was allocated 800 TMC including the return flows with a total of 811 TMC of the Krishna River water flows. The Krishna Water Dispute Tribunal (hereinafter referred to as “KWDT”) in pursuance to sections 5(2) and 5(3) of the Inter-State Water Disputes Act, 1956 has set precedent for such allocation to the State of Andhra Pradesh. In 2004, the Krishna River Water Dispute Tribunal-2 has also upheld the same.
However, in 2014 after the formation of the Telangana State, the bifurcated States were allocated 512 TMC to the State of Andhra Pradesh and 299 TMC to the Telangana State. This Agreement which came in 2015 is an outcome of the efforts by the Krishna River Management Board (hereinafter referred to as “KRMB”) and it is the authority to see the implementation of the 2015 Agreement.
The petitioner pleaded that the Central Government has failed to notify the jurisdiction of the KRMB which is a requisite for the Board to exercise its jurisdiction ordinarily under Section 87 of the Andhra Pradesh Reorganisation Act, 2014. Hence, it was sought in the plea to direct the Union of India to notify the jurisdiction of the KRMB.
The petitioner contended that it has been seven years since the states went bifurcation but the Centre has not yet discharged its statutory functions towards settling the water disputes between them. They further said that without notifying the jurisdiction of KRMB, there has been a hindrance to water supply for irrigation and other purposes to their State by the Government of Telangana.
