Andhra Pradesh will raise concerns over Telangana’s alleged excess drawal of Krishna water from the Srisailam reservoir, operation of pumps under Phase I of the Palamuru-Rangareddy lift irrigation scheme and construction of other lift irrigation projects on the river at the 21st meeting of the Krishna River Management Board (KRMB) in Hyderabad on October 26.
AP water resources officials allege that Telangana drew large quantities of water from the Srisailam reservoir for power generation and stored it in the Nagarjunasagar project, leaving the reservoir level low. The reduced storage could affect drinking water supplies, particularly in the Rayalaseema region, during May and June next year unless rainfall generates fresh inflows from upstream projects.
The Srisailam reservoir currently holds 57.92 tmc-ft of water, or 26.84 per cent of its gross capacity of 215 tmc-ft at full reservoir level. Officials said low inflows due to a lack of rainfall had compounded concerns over water availability.
AP would also object to the operation of pumps under the Palamuru-Rangareddy scheme and seek a halt to the construction of lift irrigation projects on the Krishna.
State water resources officials said, “With Telanana taking away water from Srisailam reservoir, AP suffered huge damage by having very precarious water levels in the reservoir even to meet the drinking water needs of the people in Rayalaseema. This is an irreversible damage and nothing can be done right now unless there is rainfall to facilitate fresh inflow of water into the reservoir.”
KRMB has yet to finalise a water-sharing arrangement between Andhra Pradesh and Telangana. Following the bifurcation in 2014, the two state CMs agreed to share Krishna water in a 66.34 ratio.
Officials said the board had earlier issued interim water-sharing orders, but this practice had not been followed in recent years. The absence of such orders had contributed to disputes and mutual allegations of excess water drawal by the two states.
Andhra Pradesh would also reiterate its demands for shifting the KRMB headquarters to Amaravati, issuing water-release orders for both states and hand over of major common project components to the board.
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