It may take a long time for the tribunal and the boards to sort out the disputes. (File photo | Express)
Solving river water disputes between two states in India is extremely complicated. The Krishna and Godavari River Management Boards, tasked with the management of irrigation projects on the two rivers that flow through Telangana and Andhra Pradesh, would require skill sets of a very high order if they want to leave neither state fuming. The gazette notification in July by the Ministry of Jal Shakti that all the 107 projects on the two rivers would have to come under the control of the two boards by October 14 marked a watershed in finding a solution to the Gordian knot of sorting out the disputes between the two states. But the issue of the notification is only a tiny step forward as the problem reminds one of the famous rabbit-raven illusion, with both the states appearing justified in their arguments.
Parallelly, the Telangana state withdrew its petition in the Supreme Court, filed under Section 3 of the Inter-State River Water Disputes Act, 1956, paving the way for the Centre to refer the fresh division of river waters between the two states to either the existing Brijesh Kumar Tribunal or a new one. No one knows how many years it would take to decide the share of each state.
It may take a long time for the tribunal and the boards to sort out the disputes. During the process, the states tend to lose heavily and even if one state has the last laugh, it would be a pyrrhic victory. For now, the KRMB has asked the two states to hand over 16 outlets under Nagarjuna Sagar and Srisailam projects. Both the states have different opinions. Telangana wanted the hydel power generation stations to be out of the ambit of the board and AP said that though it was ready to issue a GO handing over its project, it would not agree to hydel stations being left out of the board’s control, raising the curtain on another conflict. In the present circumstances, the only sensible solution is that both the states should resolve the issue with mutual trust and in a spirit of accommodation. The Centre too should take an active role in finding an amicable solution.
