Union water resources minister Uma Bharti will hold the first Apex Council meeting with the Chief Ministers of Telangana and Andhra Pradesh on September 21.

A communiqué to this effect has reached both states, confirmed TS special chief secretary (Irrigation) S.K. Joshi to DC on Wednesday.

Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu had earlier wanted the meeting to be held on September 19 but his TS counterpart K. Chandrasekhar Rao had said that he could only attend the meeting on September 21 in view of the Assembly Session.

After talking to both the CMs, Ms Bharti convened the meeting on September 21.

The agenda for the proposed meeting will be about TS going ahead with construction of Palamuru-Ranga Reddy and Dindi projects using Krishna River waters to which the AP government and a few farmers of Krishna Delta are opposed.

The meeting is being held after the Supreme Court gave a direction to the Union water resources ministry to convene the Apex Council meeting to discuss and decide on the issue of TS overusing Krishna waters without obtaining necessary clearances and data from Central government agencies as well as not informing the downstream AP state and the Krishna River Management Board that was constituted specially for the purpose under the AP Reorganisation Act.

However, the TS government, represented by its irrigation minister T. Harish Rao met Ms Bharti a few days ago and requested her to include some more items for discussion in the Apex Council meeting including sharing of Godavari surplus flows and share in Godavari waters being diverted to Krishna Basin through the Pattiseema Lift Irrigation scheme taken up by the AP government.

He asked the Union minister to restrict AP from drawing excess waters to the tune of 40 tmc ft from Srisailam dam through the Pothireddypadu Head Regulator without the consent of the KRMB or the TS government.

It is, however, not clear whether the Apex Council meet will be confined to the directions of the Supreme Court or will include the objections raised by both AP and TS governments against each other in taking up various irrigation projects across Godavari and Krishna as well.

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BY M. DIVYA SRI