Andhra Pradesh took water for drinking requirements

Hyderabad: The AP government on Thursday stated that it is entitled to draw 10 tmc ft of water from Nagarjunasagar Dam as decided by the Governor and this quantum of release has not been altered in any manner in the orders issued by chairman of Krishna River Management Board issued on June 26.

The AP government’s engineer-in-chief had stated in the release that at no point of time the allotment of 10 tmc ft was curtailed or reduced to 3.6 tmc ft as is being projected.

The communique said a meeting conducted under the chairmanship of Governor of AP on March 21, 2014, decided to release 10 tmc ft of water to Krishna Delta to meet the drinking water needs of Krishna, Guntur, West Godavari and Prakasam districts up to August.

After reviewing the water position in the reservoirs of  Srisailam and Nagarjun-asagar, Mr A.B. Pandya, chairman, Krishna River Management Board advised to commence the release of water as per the demands of the respective states as agreed in the Governor’s meeting and keeping local conditions in mind.

The water released to Krishna Delta System shall be 6,000 cusecs for a week.

In the meantime, the meeting of the board shall be convened to reassess the situation and manage the releases as per the prevailing condition and revise the release schedule as per the ground situation.

In a section of media, it was mentioned that 10 tmc ft of water permitted by the Governor, has been reduced to 3.60 tmc ft. This is not correct. The order of June 24 only gives the rate of release and duration of release which would be reviewed as per the requirements in a week. The order of the chairman clearly mentions that the decision taken by the Governor on March 21, 2014 remains in vogue and as per that, Krishna delta can draw 10 tmc ft upto August 2014, the release said.

The communique said AP Government is committed to fulfil the drinking water needs of all the population under Krishna Delta System and take appropriate measures accordingly.