Andhra Pradesh to expose Telangana's 'misdeeds' over Krishna river water

Hyderabad: Expressing serious concern over depleting water level of Srisailam reservoir, the Andhra Pradesh government on Tuesday said it would expose the "misdeeds" of Telangana and request the Krishna River Management Board to exercise its authority effectively during the Board meeting here tomorrow.

If required, Andhra Pradesh may seek the intervention of the Apex Council comprising the Union Water Resources Minister and the Chief Ministers of both the states to resolve the current dispute.

The Board is scheduled to meet to find a solution to the ongoing dispute between the two states over utilisation of water of the Krishna river at Srisailam as power generation at the Left Power House by Telangana has been depleting water in the reservoir.

The Andhra Pradesh government is "seriously concerned" over the depleting level of water at Srisailam that could result in a grave drinking water and irrigation crisis in the coming months as the Telangana government is going ahead with power generation in violation of government orders regulating the use of water, said an official.

The Board had asked Telangana to abide by the government orders and not use available water for power generation but the latter has ignored directions, the official said. "The Board is toothless and that's the main problem here. It is unable to assert its authority as is evident in the current case," Andhra Pradesh Irrigation authorities said.

Constituted under the AP Re-organisation Act to ensure better water management between AP and Telangana, the Board has not been fully constituted and it doesn't have adequate staff.

Though the Act stipulates that the Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) should be deployed at major reservoirs on river Krishna, that hasn't happened yet, a senior official of Irrigation Department pointed out.

Andhra Pradesh is also seeking to call "Telangana's bluff" over power as the latter has been drawing 56 per cent and 58 per cent electricity from thermal and hydel sources respectively though its entitlement as per the Andhra Pradesh Re-organisation Act is 54 per cent, the official said.

Power distribution companies in AP face a shortfall of 153 million units from hydro power stations as Telangana did not schedule supply from Jurala and Nagarjuna Sagar Dam.

"Telangana state is also drawing hydro power from inter-state stations like Machkund and Tungabhadra, as a result of which we get four per cent less power against our entitlement of 46 per cent," Andhra Pradesh's Communications Advisor Parakala Prabhakar said.

The Andhra Pradesh side plans to place all these facts before the Krishna River Management Board and seek to "rein in" Telangana state to "protect the interests of farmers" in the two states as well as save adequate water for drinking needs, including the needs of Hyderabad city, the official added.