Telangana wants the Krishna river water shared on a 50:50 basis, Andhra Pradesh wants it to be on a 66:34 basis.
Srisailam dam and Krishna river. (Wikimedia Commons)
A crucial meeting convened by the Krishna River Management Board (KRMB) with officials from Telangana and Andhra Pradesh ended inconclusively on Wednesday, 10 May, as the authorities failed to reach a consensus on sharing the river water.
The board had convened the meeting at the Jala Soudha to discuss river-water sharing and other allied issues. In spite of discussing the matter in detail, officials could not arrive at a conclusion on sharing the water between the two Telugu States.
While Telangana insisted on sharing the Krishna river water on a 50:50 basis, Andhra Pradesh maintained that it should be on a 66:34 basis.
Left with no other option, the board has decided to refer the matter to the Union Ministry of Jal Shakti for a resolution.
Telangana Irrigation and Command Area Development (I&CAD) Department Special Chief Secretary Rajat Kumar said the water allocation should be based on projects, and a separate tribunal should be constituted.
He made it clear that there was no question of accepting the sharing of water on a 66:34 basis.
He said Andhra Pradesh must utilise only 34 TMC of water from Srisailam and added that the latter was strongly opposing Telangana’s demand of sharing the water on 50:50 basis.
Stating that the new water year would start from 1 June, he said officials from Telangana would continue to put pressure on the board on sharing river water on a 50:50 basis.
Recently, the Telangana government requested KRMB to restrain Andhra Pradesh from executing what it calls the unauthorised Veligonda project, which is intended to divert water outside the basin.
In a letter to the KRMB chairman, Telangana Irrigation and Command Area Development Engineer-in-Chief (General), C Muralidhar, said that it was learnt that the Veligonda project tunnel works were progressing at a brisk pace.
He said the head regulator to release water from the Srisailam reservoir to Nallamala Sagar through the first tunnel has been completed. The second tunnel of 5.52 km length is being excavated.
Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao has opposed the diversion from the basin and requested the Union Minstry for Jal Shakti to take steps to stop the diversion of Krishna waters through the Pothireddypadu regulator.
Also, during the second apex council meeting, the Union minister had stated that the inter-basin transfer of water can be done only after fulfilling the in-basin needs.
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