AP political parties to fight against Krishna Tribunal Award

All political parties urged the Andhra Pradesh government today to continue a simultaneous political and legal battle against the Krishna Water Disputes Tribunal Award over sharing of waters of the Krishna river, which they said, is detrimental to the state's interests.
Though the AP government held an all-party meeting here today to discuss the course of action to be adopted, no conclusive decision was taken, due to which it was decided to hold another such meeting soon.
The Chief Minister's Office said in a release, that all parties unanimously resolved to fight "politically and legally" to protect the rights of Andhra Pradesh. The release also said that the AP Chief Minister is also likely to lead an all-party delegation to the Centre over the issue.

However, Major Irrigation Minister P Sudershan Reddy told reporters after a four-hour-long meeting at the AP State Secretariat that divergent views were expressed about meeting the Prime Minister against the Brijesh Kumar Tribunal's award.
"We will discuss the issue with legal experts as well as engineers and subsequently hold another meeting with all political parties in order to arrive at a decision about our fight," the minister said.
The AP government plans to file a Special Leave Petition afresh in the Supreme Court based on the suggestions of experts and political parties, Reddy said.

Though the AP government sought 14 amendments to the Tribunal's interim award announced on December 30, 2010, Justice Brijesh Kumar did not concede even one and increased water allocation by a "negligible" four thousand million cubic feet in the Tribunal's final order on November 29.

Opposition parties as well as ruling Congress leaders from the Seemaandhra region called the Tribunal's award as a "deathblow" to Andhra Pradesh, particularly the Krishna delta.
The state would turn into a desert, they said.