Amaravati: Stating that Chennai was facing a grave drinking water crisis even before the onset of summer, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister O Panneerselvam on Thursday requested Andhra Pradesh to immediately release at least two TMC ft of Krishna water from the Telugu Ganga project.
While promising to consider Tamil Nadu's request, Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu suggested his counterpart that he exert pressure on upper riparian states Maharashtra and Karnataka --through the Centre -- to release water downstream in Krishna.
"We will assess the water availability position here and take a decision on releasing more water as we have already released one TMC ft. We are also facing water shortage here," Chandrababu said.
Panneerselvam, who flew down here from Chennai this morning, held a meeting with Chandrababu at the AP Secretariat at Velagapudi and discussed the Telugu Ganga water issue.
The Tamil Nadu Chief Minister told his AP counterpart that only 1.5 TMC ft of water was currently available in Chennai city, though it had tanks with a total storage capacity of 11.5 TMC ft.
"We are facing a grave drinking water crisis even before the summer. So we need at least two TMC ft of water immediately to mitigate the crisis," Panneerselvam told Chandrababu.
Briefing newsmen after the meeting, AP Planning Board vice chairman Kutumba Rao said AP had already released one TMC ft of water that would soon reach Chennai.
"Our CM told the Tamil Nadu CM that dams and reservoirs in Maharashtra and Karnataka are full of water and they should release it downstream since our reservoirs are not full. He suggested that Tamil Nadu bring pressure on those two governments through the Centre for release of water," Kutumba Rao, who also took part in the meeting, said.
Chandrababu also told Panneerselvam that the issue of water release to Chennai through Telugu Ganga project would be taken up with the Krishna River Management Board. "The KRMB should decide the proportionate share of water to be released by Telangana and AP post bifurcation," Chandrababu added.
AP also asked Tamil Nadu to release Rs 443 crore as the latter's share in the Telugu Ganga project.
"There are differences in claims over this between the two states but we told the Tamil Nadu delegation that the accountant general's estimate was final. Panneerselvam agreed to release some amount soon but did not specify how much," Kutumba Rao said.
Officials of water resources departments of AP and Tamil Nadu would soon meet in Tirupati for further talks on Telugu Ganga water sharing.
Meanwhile, the AP Chief Minister requested Tamil Nadu to continue Telugu in schools there. "Panneerselvam responded positively to this," the Planning Board vice-chairman said.
There was no political discussion between the Chief Ministers during their 45-minute meeting, he added.
Tamil Nadu Public Works Minister Y Palanisamy, Chief Secretary Girija Vaidyanathan, government advisor Sheela Balakrishnan and other officials were part of the visiting delegation.
