Centre Explains Krishna, Godavari River Boards' Powers

The Centre today directed the two Telugu states of Telangana and Andhra Pradesh to follow the guidelines of its gazette notification for water sharing and project construction works to avoid disputes.

In a notification released by the Jal Shakti ministry last night, the Centre finally detailed the jurisdictions of the Krishna River Management Board (KRMB) and the Godavari River Management Board (GRMB), years after the formation of the two bodies. Now, the two boards will have the power to run all water projects, including hydropower generation ones, in the two river basins from October 14.

With this, 35 projects will fall under the KRMB and 71 under the GRMB. This means that the two boards will have the power to operate the headworks of barrages, dams, reservoirs, regulating structures, parts of the canal networks, transmission lines and power houses at the various project sites.

Talking to the media, Jal Shakhthi official Sanjay Avasthi explained that the two states would now be able share water as per the terms of the AP Reorganisation Act of 2014.

"The Centre brought all water projects in the river basins under the jurisdiction of the Krishna and Godavari boards. Any water allocations and releases will now be made as per clearly stipulated norms. The two states will have to follow the gazette notification and guidelines. For now, Telangana and Andhra Pradesh have to each pay Rs 200 crore, a one-time seed amount, in about two months that will be used for the maintenance of the KRMB and to ensure that is discharges its functions well. After careful deliberations and discussion with various bodies, the Centre finally decided that the notification could be a good start to resolving the longstanding water feud between AP and Telangana," the official said.

Apart from this, the Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) will now be assisting the KRMB in the day-to-day management of certain projects and other security tasks, according to norms laid down by the Centre.

The Centre has also asked both states to immediately stop all unapproved project works.