HYDERABAD: In a bid to resolve the clash between Telangana and Andhra Pradesh over utilising water from the Nagarjunasagar Project (NSP), the Union ministry of jal shakti (MoJS) is seriously exploring the possibility of bringing the Nagarjunasagar and Srisailam dams under the purview of the Krishna River Management Board (KRMB).
A decision to this effect is expected to be taken at a meeting convened by the ministry in New Delhi on December 6. MoJS secretary Abhiram Kumar said on Saturday that the NSP review meeting would be conducted under the chairmanship of the secretary, water resources, river development and Ganga rejuvenation.
However, it is not clear if the new Telangana government will be in place by the date of the meeting.
At the dam itself, AP had closed one gate of the right main canal but its police was still in place. The CRPF had taken over the area that the TS police were controlling, but were yet to be deployed on the AP side till last reports came in. The AP police are still on the dam, and their barricades have not been removed, sources said.
The agenda includes discussion with the two states on the transfer of NSP and Srisailam project, along with all related appurtenances and structures, to KRMB. Towards this, secretary Kumar urged Telangana Chief Secretary A. Shanti Kumari and her AP counterpart K.S. Jawahar Reddy, along with officials from the CRPF, which has taken over security at the dam, Central Water Commission (CWC) and KRMB, to be physically present at the meeting.
On Saturday, Telangana irrigation and command area development (I&CAD) department engineer-in-chief (general) C. Muralidhar in a letter to the board chairman urged the KRMB to take necessary steps to immediately restore status quo as on pre-November 28, as decided in the virtual meeting held under the chairmanship of the secretary, ministry of home affairs.
As per information received from the chief engineer, NSP, the Telangana police had withdrawn from the site and the CRPF had taken over control of various points on the project in accordance with the decision taken at Friday meeting on status quo.
But, AP has not taken a similar action and the AP state police have not been withdrawn. Further, the head regulator of the right main canal was still open and water was continuing to flow into the canal, albeit illegally, Muralidhar said. He sought the board’s intervention to maintain status quo and stop the illegal drawl of water to the right main canal.
Meanwhile, during a meeting with AP irrigation department officials on Saturday, the MoJS asked them to first withdraw police forces from the site.
Sources in KRMB said that AP continued to draw 3,600 cusecs of water every day.
According to sources in the Telangana irrigation department, AP’s move last week had nothing to do with the state’s drinking water needs.
The sources said that the AP government was under intense pressure from farmers in Guntur, Krishna and Prakasam districts where standing crops, including chilli, which is grown mostly in Guntur district and in some areas of Prakasam, require water for irrigating crops.
“Fifteen tmc ft (thousand million cubic feet) of water to meet drinking water needs of AP has been approved. Of these 5 tmc ft have been released and another 5 tmc ft is slated for release next month and the last phase in April. If AP wanted to meet its drinking water needs urgently, Telangana would have had no objection as the state could take from its already allocated quota. Instead, AP came and did this deliberately just when Telangana’s official machinery was busy with the Assembly elections,” the sources said.
“The KRMB too did not act with alacrity and despite the availability of a board member in the city, some low-level officials were dispatched to the dam to check and submit a ground report. Meanwhile, AP is continuing to release water,” they added.
