Hyderabad: After heated exchanges and arguments over allotment of additional Krishna waters and implementation of the ratio among the two states as agreed upon, the Krishna River Management Board, in its special meeting held in the city on Wednesday, allotted 18.5 tmc ft to AP and 15.5 tmc ft to Telangana state from the available waters till April this year.
The Board, in its special meeting convened on Wednesday, allotted the waters among the two states from the waters available in Srisailam and Nagarjunasagar Dams up to the MDDL (Minimum Draw Down Level) and asked the states to make use of this allocation judiciously. However, the meeting that lasted for around five hours saw serious debate as well as arguments between officials of both the states over the sharing of water. TS officials contended that the Board should stick to the water allotment ratio fixed by the Union government which was agreed by both the states in the order of 512 tmc ft (for AP) and 299 tmc ft (for Telangana) in a water year. They said that any allotment by the Board should reflect the same ratio, and pointed out that however, this was not done by the Board despite frequent reminders.
The TS officials also argued that whatever remaining water now left shall be allotted fully to the state as it got less allotment in the water release orders. Countering this, AP officials put forth the argument that the remaining water shall not be apportioned to Telangana as AP was still deprived of its legitimate share during the water year. The AP officials also countered the TS argument on apportionment of Godavari waters being drawn from Pattiseema and Polavaram by saying that Pattiseema was not part of Polavaram project. They pointed out thus far, Polavaram dam works were not completed.
They also said that the question of allotment of Godavari waters to Telangana was a subject that should be decided later and not now. At this stage, TS officials told the Board that unless and until project-wise allotments are finalised, they cannot implement the Board’s orders which are arbitrary in nature. After prolonged arguments on the subject, the Board finally said working manual for releases of Krishna waters shall be decided in another meeting. The Board said that any decision on the issue could be reached only after the visit of the Union water resources ministry-appointed Special Experts Committee headed by A.K. Bajaj scheduled for next week.
