Telangana sore at AP, diversion' angers irrigation minister T Harish Rao

Hyderabad: Raking up a fresh controversy on releases of Krishna waters from Srisailam dam, TS irrigation minister T. Harish Rao on Tuesday lodged a complaint with the Krishna River Management Board, accusing the AP government of illegally diverting huge inflows from the Srisailam dam to Pothireddypadu Head Regulator and showing a meagre quantum which was against the rules and regulations stipulated by the Board.

The TS government demanded the KRMB send a fact finding committee to Srisailam to ascertain the facts and figures and take action against the AP government for the illegal diversion of water.

KRMB chairman Ram Sharan and member-secretary Sameer Chaterjee assured Mr Harish Rao that the complaint would be looked into and action taken after the Board speaks to the AP government.

Meanwhile, AP irrigation minister Devineni Uma Maheswara Rao denied the TS government’s accusation and said there was never any illegal diversion of waters; he said that everything was being done with the permission from KRMB.

Mr Uma Maheswara Rao also said that the AP government wished all three parts of undivided AP, i.e.,  Telangana, Coastal Andhra and Rayalaseema, benefit from the Krishna river as per their legitimate share.

After bifurcation of the state the KRMB was subsequently constituted and it was the Board which decided that the control and maintenance of the inter-state Srisailam dam shall be with the AP government and that of Nagarjunasagar be with the TS government. It had also made it clear that both the Chief Engineers of the respective dams shall decide on water release in accordance with the decisions of the Board and not otherwise.

The bone of contention behind the TS government’s  complaint was that though Srisailam has been getting huge inflows in the season, the dam authorities, controlled by the AP government, are diverting huge quantities of Krishna waters to Pothireddypadu Head Regulator from which several Rayalaseema irrigation projects start. However, the officials are showing a lower quantum in the official records, suspects TS.

The TS government also complained that Srisailam authorities, instead of building up storage at Srisailam or releasing the water downstream to Nagarjunasagar dam, are diverting waters illegally thereby depriving the rightful release to Nagarjunasagar dam which can accommodate another 150 tmc ft before it reaches its brim.

It is a known fact that the TRS, even before coming to power, had several times levelled allegations that Pothireddypadu Head Regulator designed discharge has been altered from 11,150 cusecs (to carry 1 tmc ft of water per day) to 44,000 cusecs (4 tmc ft) without approval from the Central Water Commission, to illegally divert more waters to Rayalaseema based projects like Telugu Ganga, Galeru Nagari, KC Canal and even to Somasila and Kandaleru.

When contacted, Srisailam dam officials denied the allegation and maintained that no irregularity was committed by them in diversion of waters to Pothireddypadu.

“There is already assured water earmarked for Chennai drinking water project and Srisailam Right Branch Canal. Any diversion to these schemes cannot be called illegal. Even if we want to divert waters to Pothireddypadu Head Regulator, there is no demand for water from the lower areas. The allegation is totally baseless.”

The official said that the KRMB member-secretary has been briefed on how the entire system and operations work duing his recent visit to Srisailam dam.
The official said though there was no power demand; AP government has allowed APGenco to operate right bank power house through which 33,000 cusecs of water is being released to Nagarjunasagar apart from the TSGenco-operated left bank powerhouse.

“Why do we need to illegally divert water? We could have closed down our powerhouse and stalled release of water,” said an official.

The officials said it was a regular practise at Srisailam to maintain storage at a particular level and make releases through canals and powerhouses.

He said that the AP government has moved KRMB with a fresh indent for 11 tmc ft of water for utilisation under Pothireddypadu Regulator and as and when they get permission they will release it.