Telangana seeks equal share in Krishna River water

During a meeting held at Jalasoudha, KRMB Chairman MP Singh stated that power generation from Srisailam project should be in line with the needs of Nagarjuna Sagar and Krishna Delta. He wanted the Telangana government to stop power generation at Srisailam project, stating that power should be generated only when it was required for operating the lift schemes of the project.

The Telangana officials expressed dissatisfaction over the remarks made by the KRMB chairman and asserted that the State would not stop power generation which was required for operating lift irrigation schemes in the State. Protesting against the Board chairman’s remarks, the officials staged a walk-out.

Earlier, Special Chief Secretary for Irrigation Rajat Kumar from Telangana pointed out that share in river waters was one of the major issues that led to the Statehood movement and the subsequent formation of Telangana State and that Krishna was the main water source for Hyderabad’s population. He argued that water were distributed between Andhra Pradesh and Telangana in the ratio of 512 TMC and 299 TMC respectively, on a temporary basis which was only applicable for the year



2015-16.

Accordingly, the Telangana government has been repeatedly appealing to the Board for allocation of river waters in 50:50 ratio until the final verdict of Krishna Water Disputes Tribunal (KWDT) is delivered. He pointed out that Telangana has been making the demand since 2018, but there was little progress. He made it clear that continuing with the temporary arrangement was unacceptable to Telangana and demanded that the Board take a decision in this regard immediately.

Speaking to media persons before the meeting commenced, Rajat Kumar said hydel power generation was needed to meet the water needs of Telangana. He reiterated that the Palamuru-Rangareddy Lift Irrigation Scheme was not a new project and was initiated during the then erstwhile Andhra Pradesh government before State formation. 

He also argued that the Andhra Pradesh government was constructing projects illegally on the river and opposed diverting Krishna water outside the basin. He stated that though Telangana had been demanding installation of telemetry system on Krishna River for many years now, there was no response till date.