Row over Krishna waters intensifies

The Andhra Pradesh government has shot off another letter to the Union government and the Krishna water management board complaining about the adamant attitude of the Telangana government with regard to the use of Krishna waters.

The move comes a day after Governor of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana E S L Narasimhan urged the chief ministers of the respective states to solve the row over the usage of Krishna river water through discussions.

The AP government, in its letter on Friday, said that the Telangana government, despite the Centre's directions on Tuesday to immediately stop releasing water from the Srisailam left bank power house and desist from hydel generation using the same, is continuing hydel power production violating the agreed protocol of reservoir operations.

The AP government has quoted GO 69 of January 1996 and GO 107 of 2004 on the usage of water in the Srisailam reservoir.  AP has been saying that the spillway should only be opened to release water when the water level in the reservoir crosses 885 feet.

Even then, the water should be sent to the Nagarjunasagar project with the help of turbines, it insists. The AP government has said that both the governments are bound by the agreement reached on 10 July 2014, that old GOs would prevail till both the governments agree on new regulations.

On Tuesday, the Union irrigation principal secretary, S K Joshi, wrote to the Telangana government that priority should be given for drinking water and irrigation needs and “if after accounting for such needs any surpluses are available, the same can be used for additional power generation.” Telangana irrigation minister T Harish Rao, however, said that he has no option other than going ahead with power production to save standing crops.

Meanwhile, AB Pandya, Chairman, Krishna Water Board, met with Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu at his office here on Friday and discussed the issue of sharing of river waters.

TDP activists and legislators in Telangana met Governor ESL Narasimhan on Friday and urged him to act upon the issue of farmers’ suicides in the state arising out of power shortage to farm lands. YSRC Party Chief YS Jaganmohan Reddy also wrote a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi to intervene and end the Srisailam stalemate. Telangana Congress MP Gutha Sukhender Reddy expressed concern over the inundation problem in Nalgonda district because of release of water downstream by the Telangana government.