Andhra Pradesh asks Jal Shakti Ministry to address Grievances  

HYDERABAD:  The first joint meeting of the Coordination Committees of Godavari River Management Board (GRMB) and Krishna River Management Board (KRMB), which was held in Hyderabad on Tuesday, did not make much progress as the Telangana officials skipped the meeting while the AP officials sought clarification on the procedures for the implementation of Jal Shakti Ministry’s gazette notification and on inclusion of some Central government projects. Telangana officials, as expected, did not attend the meeting, demanding that a meeting of the full Boards should be convened to discuss and implement the provisions of the Ministry’s gazette notification.

As a result, the officials of the Boards held a meeting with just the AP officials. During the hour-long meeting, AP officials said that they needed clarification on the inclusion of some irrigation projects in the gazette notification. They also sought information on the procedures for the implementation of the notification. They said they would seek clarifications from the Centre, and till then, the implementation of certain provisions should be postponed. Though the AP government agreed in principle to the gazette notification, it also aired some grievances.

“Let the Jal Shakti Ministry address our grievances and later the Boards can take control of irrigation projects,” AP Irrigation Engineer-in- Chief C Narayana Reddy said. He said at the meeting that they had to discuss giving funds to Boards, following the timelines and providing the DPRs with the State government. “Once AP’s grievances are addressed and the basic structure is finalised, only then it is possible to implement the timelines fixed by the Boards,” Narayana Reddy said.

The officials fixed certain timelines for paying seed money by the States and distributed the same in the meeting. The Coordination Committee was formed to implement the gazette notification of the Jal Shakti Ministry. The notification will be implemented from October 14, and from then, important projects in both the States would be maintained by the respective boards.

Another letter by Telangana

The KRMB suddenly convened the meeting along with the GRMB Coordination meeting on Tuesday. TS Engineer-in-Chief C Muralidhar informed the KRMB chairman that: “Without having the guidance of the full Board meeting, it is not possible to discuss any issues. Therefore, it is requested that the coordination committee meeting may be convened after having a detailed full Board meeting.”