The next meeting of the Southern Zonal Council will be held in Telangana. Southern Zonal Council (SZC) chairman and Union Home Minister Amit Shah accepted the request made by Deputy Chief Minister Mallu Bhatti Vikramarka at the Council’s meeting held in Mahabalipuram, Tamil Nadu, on Thursday.
The standing committee of the SZC, comprising five southern States and Union Territory of Puducherry, would meet soon to prepare action taken reports on the issues discussed on Thursday and finalise the agenda for the next meeting that is likely to include the items carried over from Thursday’s meeting.
Senior officials said the State’s issues pertaining to concerns expressed by Karnataka over the Palamuru Rangareddy and Nakkalagandi lift irrigation schemes figured in the meeting. The Union Home Minister is understood to have opined that it was important for the riparian States to make optimum utilisation of available water. Approaching courts or tribunals seeking resolution to their issues could lead to delays in adjudication. The would, in turn, result in water going waste into the sea which was not in the interests of any State.
The comments assume significance as the States referred to Section 3 of the Inter State River Water Disputes Act 1956 which allows the State government to request the Centre to refer the water disputes with other riparian States to a tribunal for adjudication.
The requests of Telangana and Andhra Pradesh governments for speedy resolution of impasse over apportionment of Schedule IX and X institutions as also those that are not mentioned anywhere in the AP Reorganisation Act are learnt to have come up for discussion during the meeting. Mr. Amit Shah is learnt to have favoured the governments of the two States to resolve the issues through mutual discussions rather than raising them at the southern zonal council meetings. The Ministry of Home Affairs, being a nodal agency, is prepared to extend its cooperation in resolving the pending issues serving the interests of the two States.
Published – August 20, 2026 07:10 pm IST