HYDERABAD: Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy has directed irrigation and legal officials to present a strong case and place all supporting evidence before the Supreme Court to secure Telangana's share of Krishna river waters in its dispute with Andhra Pradesh.
The case is expected to come up for hearing after November 18.
The chief minister reviewed the state's legal strategy with legal experts and senior irrigation officials at the MCR HRD Institute on Tuesday. Irrigation Minister N. Uttam Kumar Reddy, Irrigation adviser Adityanath Das, Chief Minister's Office secretary K. Manicka Raj, Irrigation dept. secretary E. Sridhar, Advocate General A. Sudarshan Reddy and senior Supreme Court advocate C.S. Vaidyanathan attended the meeting, according to an official release.
Revanth asked officials to compile the material on every issue in dispute and make effective submissions before the court.
He also directed engineers to expedite the Dindi and Achampet lift irrigation schemes and to supply water to both from the Edula reservoir as decided earlier, ensuring that the 0.6 tmc ft required for the two schemes moves from Narlapur to Edula without hindrance. Officials were asked to identify the stretches where tunnels and canals will be needed and prepare a detailed project report.
On the Kaleshwaram project, the chief minister cautioned against hasty decisions on the proposed additional 1 tmc ft of works, saying in the same breath that he did not want the mistakes of the previous BRS government repeated. The existing system struggles to convey even the present 2 tmc ft, he said, and the additional works should be taken up only after a review of all technical and administrative aspects.
He directed officials to first review the progress of the Kaleshwaram-related cases pending in the Supreme Court before beginning land acquisition, and to obtain all requisite clearances from the Central Water Commission.
(With inputs from media reports)