Union Minister Gets Covid, Apex Council Meeting Postponement Likely

Union Jal Shakti Minister Gajendra Singh Shekhavat tested positive for the coronavirus, resulting in the Apex Council meeting to address water disputes between the two Telugu states slated for August 25 most likely to get postponed.

The minister himself tweeted that he had tested positive and was to be admitted to a hospital.

The Centre recently announced that the Apex Council meeting would be conducted on August 25, after Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao had asked for a meeting after August 20 instead of the previous date.

The Centre was getting ready for the meeting when the minister tested positive.

The meeting is now likely to be held in the middle of September, if Shekhavat gets fit enough to address the two states over video conference by then.

The Krishna and Godavari boards have asked two states to maintain status quo on their respective irrigation projects until the meeting was held by the Council. Both the states have filed complaints against each other with the boards and the Centre, and the meeting was expected to help resolve them.