The Telangana government will have no objection if the Centre allocates the assured water of Godavari to Telangana  and diverts the surplus water to Krishna river, irrigation minster T Harish Rao has said.

Speaking to reporters here on Wednesday, he said the assured water in Godavari should be ensured first for Telangana. If it was not ensured to TS and the water from Godavari was diverted to Krishna, the state would oppose it, he said.

Harish Rao said the Centre proposed to divert 500 tmcft of water from the Krishna at Nagarjunasagar to the Penna Basin and wanted to prepare a detailed project report (DPR) immediately. The proposal was made at the meeting convened by Union water resources minister Uma Bharati in Delhi on Tuesday. “We opposed the proposal because the water availability in rivers was based on a report prepared some 30 years ago.

We wanted a fresh study on availability of river waters,” Harish Rao said. “We will not object to river linking when the share of Telangana in Godavari waters is ensured to Telangana farmers. We will oppose any move to divert Godavari water in the name of river linking and at the cost of our farmers,” Rao said.

The Brijesh Kumar Tribunal will decide on including Maharashtra and Karnataka as parties to further hearings. The AP Reorganisation Act, 2014 extended the term of the tribunal. But the Act was silent on whether the extended term of will be applicable to TS and AP or also to  Maharashtra and Karnataka.