New Delhi: Ministry of Jal Shakti issued Gazette notification defining the jurisdiction on the Krishna River Management Board (KRMB) and the Godavari River Management Board (GRMB) late on Thursday night.

The notification comes into force from October 14^th, 2021. The Union Government took the decision on the AP Government’s approach to Supreme Court seeking directions to the Centre to take over the control of common reservoirs on River Krishna. The decision was taken after seven years, the bifurcation of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana

Andhra Pradesh government has been making ever since the State bifurcation, the KRMB and GRMB will have control over the operations and maintenance of the common reservoirs in both Krishna and Godavari basins, a demand which the as per the notification.

The projects have been divided into three schedules. Any unauthorized project will be subject to appraisal and approval of the KRMB and in accordance with the Apex Council. It will issue directions to AP and Telangana and they should be strictly followed.

Both the States must provide onetime Seed money of Rs 200 crore each to the KRMB within 60 days of issuance of notification. If any question arises over the jurisdiction of KRMB on any project, the decision of the Centre is final. Within six months of notification, both the States will have to get all the unauthorized projects appraised and approved.

If the State Governments fail to do so, the projects will cease to operate. From the date of commencement of notification, both the States must completely hand over the projects specified in schedules I and II to the KRMB.

The KRMB will have complete control over the Srisailam project and its components, Telugu Ganga and Handri Neeva Sujala Sravanthi as they are specified under Schedule I and II.  As per the notification, Kalwarkurthy Lift Irrigation Scheme, Palamuru Rangareddy Lift Irrigation Scheme, Nagarjuna Sagar and Pulichintala will also come under the complete KRMB jurisdiction.

AP CM YS Jagan Mohan Reddy has recently written letters to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Jal Shakti Minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat requesting the notification of the river boards’ jurisdiction among other things to resolve interstate water issues.