Former Irrigation Minister and senior BRS leader T. Harish Rao said that the Brijesh Tribunal’s orders on the distribution of Krishna water is a victory for the KCR government. Welcoming the tribunal’s interim order, he recalled that KCR had insisted on allocating water as per Section 3 from the beginning.
He lamented that it is shameful for the Congress government to claim this as their credit. Harish Rao reminded that it was the Congress government at the Center that brought the AP Reorganization Act, Section 89. He criticized that the Congress did a great injustice to Telangana in the matter of Krishna water.
He said that it took BRS 10 years to correct that mistake. Harish Rao once again clarified that BRS will fight uncompromisingly until it gets its fair share of the Krishna river and expressed hope that the Brijesh Kumar Tribunal will finally agree with KCR’s argument from the beginning that Krishna water allocation should be state-wise and not project-wise, and that Telangana will get justice in river water allocation.
He said that claiming even the victory achieved by KCR in a hard-fought battle is proof of the Congress party’s lack of emotion. Harish Rao said that it is shameful for Irrigation Minister Uttam Kumar Reddy to say that this is the greatness of the Congress party. He said that if the Congress party did irreparable injustice to Telangana in the matter of Krishna water share, it would take ten years to rectify it.
Harish Rao asserted that only after as CM personally appeared before the Brijesh Kumar’s Tribunal and argued in favor of Telangana to achieve Telangana’s rights in water shares, only improved the chances of Telangana getting justice.
He recalled that within a month of the formation of Telangana, on the orders of CM KCR, the then Principal Secretary of the Irrigation Department had written a letter on 14.7.2014 requesting the formation of a tribunal for the distribution of Krishna waters under Section 3 of the River Water Disputes Act, 1956.
He said that the then KCR government had gone to the Supreme Court in 2015 itself for a fair share of Krishna waters for Telangana. He recalled that the same issue had been strongly insisted on in the Apex Council meeting held in October 2020.
Bowing to KCR’s pressure, he said that Union Water Resources Minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat agreed to refer the case filed by the Telangana government in the Supreme Court to the tribunal on the condition of withdrawing it.
However, he said that if KCR insisted on an assurance to form a tribunal immediately after the case was withdrawn, the Union Minister had said that we would announce a decision only after taking the advice of the Law Ministry.
Harish Rao said that after meeting Union Minister Shekhawat again in Delhi, he instructed the officials to withdraw the case against the then Chief Minister KCR as per his assurance.