Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrashekhar Rao has directed top officials to aggressively put forth the state government’s stand over the sharing of Krishna and Godavari river waters with Andhra Pradesh during the Apex Council meeting scheduled on October 6 .

The Apex Council was postponed twice. It was last scheduled on August 25 but was postponed as Union Minister for Jal Shakti and the chairman of Apex Council Gajendra Singh Shekhawat, tested positive for Covid-19.

Chandrasekhar Rao, who convened a high-level meeting with the Water Resources Department officials on Wednesday, directed the officials to take a firm stand on the rights of Telangana over water sharing with AP and them to prepare data and information in support of the Telangana’s argument.

He directed the officials to oppose tooth and nail any attempt to undermine the rights of Telangana people. He also asked the officials to take the Andhra government to task for illegally utilizing water from Godavari and Krishna rivers in contravention of the Bachawat Tribunal Award.

The Telangana government is strongly opposed to Andhra Pradesh’s move to build the Rayalaseema Lift Irrigation Scheme (RLIS) across the Krishna river. On its part, Andhra Pradesh had raised objections to six irrigation projects, including the Kaleshwaram Lift Irrigation Scheme taken up by Telangana on the Godavari river.