AP to convene all-party meet on Krishna water judgment

Hyderabad, Dec 1 : The Andhra Pradesh Government has decided to convene all-party meeting to discuss the future course of action to counter the judgment of Brijesh Kumar Tribunal on the Krishna water dispute.

Although the State Government wants to challenge the judgment in the Supreme Court, Chief Minister N Kiran Kumar Reddy wants to involve all political parties in the decision to avoid criticism in future. The State Cabinet, which is scheduled to meet here on December 3, will also discuss the issue and finalise the date for all-party meeting.

Major Irrigation Minister Sudershan Reddy said that the State was disappointed with the Tribunal’s judgment. He said being a lower riparian State, Andhra Pradesh should have been allocated more surplus water. However, the final judgment, pronounced on Friday, did not give any relief to Andhra Pradesh in any of the 14 amendments it sought on the interim order issues in December 2010. The Tribunal has allocated 1,005 tmcft to Andhra Pradesh, 907 tmcft feet to Karnataka and 666 tmcft to Maharashtra. The tribunal also allowed Karnataka to increase the height of Almatti dam from 519.6 meters to 524.26 meters.

Andhra Pradesh had earlier challenged the interim order in the Supreme Court, but the apex court asked the State to wait for the final verdict. After the all-party meeting, the State Government might file a Special Leave Petition (SLP) in the Supreme Court. INN