Disputes over the distribution of river water between two Telugu states continue to arise. Mainly, there are many difficulties over the share of Krishna river water. The Center is playing a big brother role between the two Telugu states. However, the AP government has once again knocked on the Supreme Court’s door over the water war.
The Supreme Court will hear the Krishna Tribunal on February 13. The AP government has approached the Supreme Court on the hearing of two references filed before the tribunal. The Brijesh Kumar Tribunal recently took a key decision on the gazette notification issued on October 23, 2023.
Two Telugu states have filed two references in the tribunal on the distribution of water shares under the AP Reorganization Act. The Brijesh Kumar Tribunal has already issued a verdict on the distribution of water between Maharashtra, Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh.
The Telangana government has approached the tribunal over the Krishna River water sharing dispute that arose after the bifurcation of the state in 2014. Since the Krishna River flows mostly within its territory, the Telangana government has requested that it should have a 70 percent share of the water as per the State Reorganization Act, otherwise, 50 percent of the water should be distributed to both states.
It is known that the central government had issued a notification on October 10, 2023 before the tribunal could decide on this matter. The central government had issued a notification that the water sharing should be decided between AP and Telangana as per the State Reorganization Act and that an inquiry should be conducted on it.
The AP government had filed a petition in the Supreme Court challenging the notification given by the central government. The Krishna Tribunal had ruled on the 16th of this month that out of the two references before it, the gazette notification reference issued by the Centre in 2023 would be the first to be investigated.
The AP government mentioned the decision taken by the tribunal in the Supreme Court. On February 19, the tribunal had brought to the notice of the Supreme Court the matter of taking up only two references for hearing. The AP lawyers requested for an early hearing on their petition. The AP government’s submission was considered by a bench of Justice Suryakant and Justice Koteshwar Singh. The Supreme Court announced that the next hearing will be held on February 13 at 2 pm.