HYDERABAD
The special meeting of the Krishna River Management Board (KRMB) held here on Monday to discuss the water indents of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana till May-end, drinking water and irrigation needs, ended without arriving at any decision.
Chairman of the river board suggested the Engineers-in-Chief (ENCs) of the two States to arrive at an understanding over their needs keeping in mind the standing crops under the Right and Left canals Nagarjunasagar project before the board could issue any water release orders. Telangana has put an indent for 107 tmc ft water till May-end, while A.P. has asked for 34 tmc ft water for meeting immediate needs.
ENC of Telangana G. Anil Kumar is said to have stated that A.P. had utilised water in much higher quantity than its allocation by continuously drawing and diverting from different canal and diversion systems. Citing the data of the river board, he explained that A.P. had so far availed over 150 tmc ft water in excess to its entitlement of 512 tmc ft.
Further, he noted that instead of even the ad hoc sharing arrangement of 66:34 ratio, A.P. was utilising water in 75:25 (AP:TG) ratio despite their (TG) regular demand for 50:50 share till the Krishna Water Disputes Tribunal adjudicates water shares out of the allocation of 811 tmc ft for combined A.P.
He requested the board to stop A.P. from drawing any water from Srisailam through Pothireddypadu Head Regulator and Malyala and Muchumarri pumping stations any more as it was diversion of water to areas outside the basin without any allocation.
Opposing Telangana’s view, ENC of AP M. Venkateswara Rao said they did not draw water in excess of their allocation and the quantity being portrayed as excess withdrawal by Telangana was only taken from water that was flowing waste into the sea. Further, he stated that Telangana was drawing water from Srisailam reservoir for power generation leading to depletion of water level in the project.
However, the Telangana ENC reiterated that the water being used for power generation at Srisailam was not wasted but reaching Nagarjunasagar for meeting needs in the dependent areas. The two ENCs had a separate meeting later but no understanding was reached at, stating that it was not possible without consulting their higher-ups, governments. Accordingly, one more meeting of the board is likely to be held over the next 2-3 days.
As on Monday, Nagarjunasagar has storage of 173.27 tmc ft (532.6 ft level) water and Srisailam 77.86 tmc ft (849 ft) against the minimum draw down level of 510 ft and 834 ft, respectively. Against the availability of 94 tmc ft water above MDDL in the two reservoirs, the indents given by Telangana is for 107 tmc ft and A.P. for 34 tmc ft.
