A usurpation?

The Ministry of Jal Shakti of the Government of India, through gazette notification dated July 15, 2021, has notified the jurisdiction of Godavari River Management Board and Krishna River Management Board, providing the required authority and power to the two Boards in terms of administration, regulation, operation and maintenance of listed projects in Godavari and Krishna River basins in Andhra Pradesh and Telangana. According to the authorities, this step is expected to ensure judicious utilization of water resources in the two states, which is not true.

The Centre, while notifying the jurisdiction of Krishna and Godavari River Management Boards, transferred to them the operation of all projects, including generation of hydel power in the two river basins from October 14.

The imperatives of the notification are: 36 projects in the Krishna basin and 71 projects in the Godavari basin are proposed to be kept under the control of KRMB and GRMB respectively. This means both the river basins will be under the direct control of the Central Government. Both states will have to stop the works of unapproved ongoing projects immediately and obtain approvals within six months of this notification. If approvals are not obtained within the stipulated time, such completed unapproved projects shall cease to operate.

Palamuru-Rangareddy Lift Irrigation Scheme (PRLIS), Dindi Lift Irrigation Scheme, Sitarama, 3rd TMC works of Kaleshwaram, Bhakta Ramadasu Lift Irrigation Scheme, Thummilla Lift Irrigation Scheme are some of the projects which fall under this category of unapproved ongoing and completed projects. All the sanctioned posts, including work-charged staff in the notified projects, shall come under the jurisdiction of boards. Both the states shall completely hand over the jurisdiction of the projects to the boards. Plants, machinery, equipment and stores of the projects shall come under the jurisdiction of boards. Office premises, equipment, furniture, vehicles, records and documents of the notified projects shall also come under the jurisdiction of boards.

Within 60 days, both the governments shall deposit Rs 200 crore each, totalling Rs 400 crore. Matters relating to power generation, transmission, and distribution shall be implemented by the states as per the directions of the boards. Both the state governments shall be responsible for the management of natural calamities like drought and floods, as per the advice of the boards.

In this context, it is of utmost importance to recall the Telangana stand on the notification of jurisdiction of KRMB. Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao expressed the stand of his government in the Second Apex Council held on October 6, 2020, saying "unless water sharing is finalised by the Tribunal under Section 3 of Inter-State River Water Disputes Act (ISRWD Act) 1956, the question of notification of jurisdiction of boards should not arise."

He further stated: "Tribunal matter is pending in the Supreme Court and the matter is sub-judice, hence on this account also the matter cannot be deliberated". A similar opinion was also expressed in the first Apex Council Meeting held on September 21, 2016. The opinions of the Chief Ministers were well recorded in the minutes of Apex Council meetings. Despite the difference of opinions of the member states on the issue of jurisdiction, the Ministry of Jal Shakti issued the gazette notification on July 15, 2021 unilaterally without communicating the Draft Notification to the member states for their remarks and comments, which is undemocratic and against the spirit of cooperative federalism. It literally means usurping the rights of states by the Centre.

The notification has far-reaching implications and impacts on Telangana. The said notification declared some of the ongoing and completed projects which were sanctioned in the combined state of Andhra Pradesh as unapproved projects and these projects shall be stopped forthwith till permissions are obtained in six months.

Projects which serve in basins, drought-prone and fluoride-affected areas namely Palamuru-Rangareddy, Dindi, Sitarama, Kalwakurthy, Nettempadu, SLBC etc. have to be stopped as per the clauses of this notification. Telangana has been pleading for water allocations for these basin projects in the ongoing Krishna Water Dispute Tribunal II. To facilitate the Ministry of Jal Shakti to refer TS complaint to the Tribunal under Section 3 of ISRWD Act, 1956, Telangana withdrew its case pending in the Supreme Court and informed the ministry.

Telangana state wants the Government of India to keep the gazette notification issued on July 15 in abeyance and seeks that the opinions, remarks and amendments from the member states be invited. Notification may be issued after examining the remarks of the member states with consensus and with amendments suggested by the member states.

Refer the complaint of Telangana state to the existing Krishna Water Dispute Tribunal II for early finalization of water shares for both the states in Krishna River to end the present water disputes within the stipulated time frame. Till the finalization of shares by the Tribunal, temporary water-sharing between AP and Telangana shall be in a 50:50 ratio from the current water year. Telangana has been asking the Government of India to implement this ratio since 2018.

As there are no common projects or water sharing disputes in Godavari Basin, Notification of jurisdiction for GRMB is not necessary. The combined state of AP allocated 967 TMC to the projects of Telangana as per the Godavari Water Dispute Tribunal Award. Telangana is constructing projects for the utilization of its share. Then why a separate board?

A River Management Board does not belong to the Central Government alone. Member states have equal rights in the deliberations. By issuing this notification unilaterally, and taking all the projects in the two river basins into the control of river boards which have nothing to do with interstate disputes, can be termed as an encroachment into the state subject. The unilateral action of the Central Government may be described as the 'nationalization of rivers'. The rights of states on river waters are taken away with this notification. Constitutional and engineering experts believe that this notification is against the spirit of the Constitution and the federal nature of the Indian Union.

With inputs from Sridhar Rao Deshpande. The writer is the Chief Public Relations Officer to the CM of Telangana. Views expressed are personal