Telangana to lose control on Krishna projects

HYDERABAD: Notwithstanding stiff opposition from the Telangana government, the full-fledged meeting of the Krishna River Management Board (KRMB) held here on Tuesday announced that the Centre’s gazette bringing all irrigation projects on Krishna under the jurisdiction of the board would come into force from October 14 as scheduled.

The board stated that Srisailam and Nagarjunasagar projects, along with all their outlets on Krishna, would come under the control of the KRMB from October 14. The KRMB urged the Telangana and AP governments to come forward to hand over projects to the board.

In the meeting, the AP irrigation officials demanded bringing hydel power stations also under the control of the KRMB which was strongly opposed by Telangana. The AP officials pointed out that their state was suffering huge losses on irrigation and drinking waterfront due to unilateral decisions of the Telangana government to generate hydel power at projects on Krishna.

The Telangana government reiterated its demand to postpone the implementation of the gazette from October 14 until all its concerns and demands are addressed, primarily the allocation of Krishna water between AP and Telangana at the ratio of 50:50 against existing allocation of 66:34 (66 for AP and 34 for TS).

Telangana irrigation special secretary Rajat Kumar categorically stated in the meeting that the government was not ready to hand over projects on Krishna to the KRMB until the water sharing dispute between both the states was not resolved.

The board wanted the Telangana and AP governments to hand over the projects in two days. In a statement, the board said, "All the direct outlets (components) from the main reservoirs of Srisailam and Nagarjuna Sagar projects which are listed under Schedule -2 of the gazette notification may be prioritised by respective state governments for handing over to KRMB by October 14."

Srisailam spillway, Srisailam right bank hydel unit, Pothireddypadu, pump house at Handri–Niva and Muchumarri lift schemes in Andhra Pradesh would be maintained by the KRMB. In Telangana,  first pump house of Kalwakurthy lift house, Srisialam left hydel power unit, 15 points of AMRP lift under Nagarjunasagar, head works and power block at Nagarjunasagar and Pulichintala and Tummilla lift scheme would come under the purview of the board once the notification is enforced, the KRMB  officials said.

After the meeting, Rajat Kumar said the government would seek legal opinion on KRMB's decision to take over projects and take appropriate measures to halt the process before the Centre's gazette comes into force.

Rajat said Telangana could not hand over hydel power plants as it was heavily dependent on hydel power to meet its increased power needs for lift irrigation schemes and borewell agriculture due to geographical conditions in Telangana.