‘Centre should continue to be manager in water disputes’

Fourteenth Finance Commission chairman and former RBI governor Y.V. Reddy has expressed the opinion that it is better if the Centre continues to be a manager, rather than running it by itself, in wate

Fourteenth Finance Commission chairman and former RBI governor Y.V. Reddy has expressed the opinion that it is better if the Centre continues to be a manager, rather than running it by itself, in water disputes between Telangana and Andhra Pradesh. Mr. Reddy, who worked on issues related to water disputes, when asked about the Centre’s decision to intervene in States’ river water disputes, said this while speaking at a talk on Centre-State relations hosted by Manthan Foundation on Sunday. “I can say that If I were to advise the Government of India, I would have said it is not wise to get into river water disputes of States to resolve. They are impossible to resolve and so complicated. Sometimes, projects are undertaken without Central clearances. And most importantly, emotions run high. There is one dispute between AP and Telangana. If the Central government stepped in, there will be two disputes – one between the Centre and AP, another between Telangana and the Centre, and the Central government will never be able to satisfy the two of them. In certain matters, it is better if the Centre continued to be a manager, rather than running it by itself. It can lead to very emotional situations. So I only hope that this will be unwound in some ways and encourage the States to co-operate with creative tensions rather than imagine that they (the Centre) can fix the problem."