The Krishna River Management Board (KRMB) has decided to refer the matter of Krishna water share for Telangana and Andhra Pradesh for the coming water year – June 1, 2023, to May 31, 2024, – to the Ministry of Jal Shakti (MoJS), as the two member states are adamant on their respective stands at the board meeting held here on Wednesday.
The board has been continuing the water share in the ratio of 34:66 (TS:AP) for the last nine water years although it was agreed upon as an ad hoc arrangement for review every year. As expected, Telangana insisted on 50:50 share till the Brijesh Kumar Tribunal (KWDT-II) finalised the allocation among the two States out of the combine allocation of 811 tmc ft assured water, while the AP authorities wanted the existing arrangement to be continued for 2023-24 too.
With the two States refusing to budge on their respective stand, chairman of the river board Shiv Nandan Kumar decided to refer the matter to the Centre (MoJS) for taking a decision on the complex issue. The meeting was attended by Special Chief Secretary (Irrigation) Rajat Kumar and Engineer-in-Chief (General) C. Muralidhar on behalf of Telangana and Principal Secretary (Water Resources) Shashibhushan Kumar and ENC C. Narayana Reddy on behalf of AP.
