AP, TG gear up for next round of battle over Krishna river
Hyderabad: Even as the Central Water Commission (CWC) informed the Telangana irrigation department that it has removed the Palamuru Rangareddy Lift Irrigation Scheme project from its list of under appraisal projects, the Andhra Pradesh irrigation department is learnt to have urged that the detailed project report of PRLIS be made available to it.
This is one of the requests that the AP government is learnt to have made to be included in the agenda at a meeting of the Krishna River Management Board to be held after Sankranti festival between representatives of the two states. Both states are learnt to have submitted their proposals for inclusion in the agenda for the meeting.
It may be recalled that both Telangana and AP have been at loggerheads over several issues on sharing Krishna river water including how the 811 thousand million cubic feet (TMC ft) of water allotted to the then unified AP are to be shared.
After the bifurcation of the two states, the BRS government in Telangana had agreed to a share of 512 TMC ft of water to AP, and the rest of 211 TMC ft for itself. However, after 2022, Telangana had been insisting on a 50:50 share of the water allocated to erstwhile unified AP which has been insisting that a 66:34 ratio of water sharing be followed, a demand Telangana is opposed to.
Andhra Pradesh is also learnt to have asked the KRMB that it must not allow Telangana to take up the Narayanpur-Kodangal Lift Irrigation Scheme, which it says is being taken up without any permission.
This project, which has been accorded priority by Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy, seeks to provide irrigation to around one lakh acres in Kodangal constituency which Revanth Reddy represents in the Assembly, as well as in Narayanpet and Makthal constituencies. The `4,350 crore project is also expected to provide drinking water supplies to Narayanpet.
Another contentious issue between the two states has been the control and management of the Nagarjunasagar dam, an issue over which AP and Telangana nearly came to blows deploying their police forces on the dam in November 2023 after AP deployed its security forces to take control of the right half of the dam, particularly the head regulator of the right canal of the dam.
Following this, the Centre deployed CRPF personnel as a neutral force handing KRMB the control of the dam, and AP has been ever since seeking removal of CRPF personnel.
Among other demands from Telangana are giving control of the dam’s tail pond gates to it, another spot of trouble between the two states which came to the fore after Telangana, in April 2024, alleged that AP released 4 TMC ft of water from there without any intimation.