The mediation initiative by the Centre on issues of contention between the newly-formed States of Telangana and Andhra Pradesh made no headway.
The nascent States are divided on issues related to power sharing, water allocation to Telangana by the Krisha Water Dispute Tribunal and special law and order powers of the Governor in the greater city of Hyderabad.
In a bid to forge consensus on these issues among the two States the Union Home Secretary, Anil Goswami, in the presence of officials of all concerned Central departments, on Thursday had a 90 minute meeting with the Chief Secretaries of AP and Telangana I.Y.R. Krishna Rao and Rajiv Sharma respectively.
In the course of the meeting, delegations led by the two Chief Secretaries reiterated the stated positions prompting the Home Secretary to remark that solutions to their concerns would have to be worked out within the parameters of the Andhra Pradesh Reorganisation Act, 2014.
Senior officials here are of the view that beyond chipping in expertise on issues related to water and power sharing, the Centre could do precious little in concrete terms as the Act under which the two States were created addresses all concerns.
Telangana is exercised over the unilateral scrapping of 10 Power Purchasing Agreements, including two representing under construction projects, by the AP Government. Expectedly the two Chief Secretaries presented the positions of their respective States.
The Twelfth Schedule in the AP Reorganisation Act clearly states that the ‘existing’ PPAs with respective DISCOMS shall continue for both ongoing projects and projects under construction with the existing Andhra Pradesh Electricity Regulatory Commission (APERC) as a joint regulatory body for a period not exceeding six months.
The Telangana Chief Secretary made a strong case to expand the scope of Krishna water dispute tribunal to cover Telangana on the plea that the water allocation to Telangana in the combined State was not fair. He wanted the scope of the tribunal to be expanded to hear the arguments of four States.
Telangana is also cut up with the special powers conferred on the State Governor to deal with law and order situation in Hyderabad. To remove apprehensions of people from Andhra and Rayalaseema settled in Hyderabad, the Reorganisation Act envisages law and order powers to the Governor.
The Home Secretary clearly told the delegation that the subject could not be discussed because what was laid down in reorganisation legislation was final.
