On Wednesday, the Union Cabinet approved the terms of reference for the Krishna Water Dispute Tribunal-II, which will settle disputes between the States of Telangana and Andhra Pradesh under the Inter-State River Water Disputes (ISRWD) Act, 1956.
Briefing reporters after a meeting of the Union Cabinet, Union Minister Anurag Thakur said, “The Union Cabinet has approved terms of reference to Krishna Water Dispute Tribunal-II in order to resolve the dispute between Telangana and Andhra Pradesh over the Krishna River water-sharing. Under this, the tribunal will distribute the Krishna water, which is allocated to the ‘undivided’ Andhra Pradesh, between the two states”.
An official statement claims that the resolution of the conflict between the two States regarding the use, distribution, or control of the waters of the Krishna River will create new growth opportunities for the States of Telangana and Andhra Pradesh. The Central Government established the Krishna Water Disputes Tribunal-II in 2004 in response to requests made by the party States under Section 3 of the ISRWD Act, 1956.
Subsequently, in 2014, Telangana, as a State of the Union of India, came into existence.
Subsequently, the Government of Telangana (GoT) forwarded a complaint to the Department of Water Resources, River Development and Ganga Rejuvenation (DoWR, RD & GR), Ministry of Jal Shakti (MoJS), Government of India, referring the dispute on the use, distribution or control of Krishna river waters.