Jagan, KCR likely to meet in Andhra Pradesh in July on Godavari water issue

Hyderabad: Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao and his Andhra Pradesh counterpart Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy are likely to meet in Amaravati mid-July to sort out the bifurcation and river water sharing issues, AP Chief Secretary L V Subrahmanyam said here Sunday.

The next meeting would be a follow up of the one that both Chief Ministers held on water sharing and other issues here last week.

Engineers and officials of both governments were asked to come out with a preliminary report by July 15 on how they can utilise the available Godavari river water together.

"There was a tentative proposal (meeting of both CMs). The report is supposed to come by July 15. Both the CMs will study it. Afterward they will sit together and decide on how to take the issues forward and the meeting will be in Andhra Pradesh this time," Subrahmanyam told PTI.

After a meeting with Jagan on June 28, Rao had said both governments decided to work together on unresolved issues concerning both states as there was a 'qualitative change' in relations between them.

Jagan said both governments firmly resolved to utilise water from Godavari river to mitigate water problems in Rayalaseema region in AP and Palamuru Nalgonda areas in Telangana.

A senior official, part of the earlier meeting, said the basic idea was to take four TMC of Godavari water to Nagarjuna Sagar and Srisailam projects, thereby providing water for both drinking and irrigation to several parts of both states.

A day after the meeting between the CM's, senior officials led by Chief Secretaries from both sides discussed the division of assets following state bifurcation in 2014.

They discussed the division of Andhra Pradesh Bhavan property, institutions mentioned in Schedule 9 and 10 of Andhra Pradesh Reorganisation Act, and division of other properties among other issues. They also discussed suggestions given by the Chief Ministers in their meeting on June 28.

Though five years have passed since the state bifurcation in 2014, several issues, including division of assets and liabilities between the states, have been pending due to lack of agreement over both the States.

As per a White Paper released by the Andhra Pradesh government in December last year, assets worth Rs 1.97 lakh crore, related to government companies and corporations and state institutions, listed under Schedules IX and X of AP Reorganisation Act, 2014 are yet to be distributed between the two states.