VIJAYAWADA: The Andhra Pradesh and Telangana states have in principle agreed to hand over the 15 water outlets on the reservoirs - six on AP side and nine on TS side - to the Krishna River Management Board.
A three-member committee held a meeting in Hyderabad on Thursday, which was chaired by KRMB chairman and participated by engineer-in-chiefs from both the states. They discussed the long-pending issues of Srisailam and Nagarjunasagar projects.
This was a follow-up to a recent meeting held by the Jal Shakti secretary in New Delhi.
Water authority staff from both the states will continue the work on both the projects.
KRMB has been empowered to issue water release order with regard to Srisailam and Nagarjunasagar.
If modifications are to be carried out in the water release order, anyone from the three-member panel can put forward a request. KRMB has to enforce this.
For instance, in case KRMB issued a release order for a certain quantity of water and if a rainfall nullified such a requirement, the order can be modified at the request of a panel member.
Members from both AP and TS agreed to retain status quo in the maintenance of both Srisailam and Nagarjunasagar projects and agreed that the day-to-day requirements would be taken care of.
The members also agreed to a request from AP for release of two tmc-ft water from the Nagarjunasagar left main canal to benefit Krishna’s tail-end area in AP and three tmc-ft of water from Nagarjunasagar right main canal in March.
This is in the backdrop of AP having the entitlement to get 5 tmc-ft of water from April.
As for maintenance of the Srisailam and Nagarjunasagar dams, the dam safety authority would do inspections and issue directions. Accordingly, both states will comply with them to ensure the safety of the dams.
AP water resources engineer-in-chief Narayana Reddy said, “We agreed to resolve several long-pending issues of both Srisailam and Nagarjunasagar projects by handing over some components for KRMB’s control.”
