The KRMB has been influenced by the AP government
Krishna River
Hyderabad: In a decision that sparked an immediate protest by Telangana government, Krishna River Management Board on Friday evening ordered that Telangana government could go ahead using only 3 TMC ft of water for power generation till November 2.
The Board said it would review the matter if required after November 15. The Board’s latest decision literally means that it very much wanted the Srisailam dam level should not go below 854 ft as AP has been insisting all these days.
By allowing only 3 TMC ft (about 34,000 cusecs of water) of water to be used for power generation also means the same as Srisailam dam level on Friday morning was 858 ft and if 3 TMC ft of water is used by Telangana it would be well above 854 ft level on November 2.
The Board also restricted the Telangana government from using water beyond November 2 for power generation in order to maintain the 854 ft level, thereby dismissing the argument of the Telangana government which states it will go upto 834 ft level for generating power.
Soon after the KRMB communique, Telangana Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao called for a meeting with irrigation minister T. Harish Rao, Irrigation adviser R. Vidyasagar Rao, chief secretary Rajiv Sharma and engineer-in-chief C. Muralidhar.
The Chief Minister reportedly expressed his ire at the KRMB decision and asked the officials to send a dissent note to the Board immediately and also to explore possibilities to fight it out legally.
Mr Harish Rao termed the KRMB decision to restrict Telangana on power generation from Srisailam as unilateral, and has been influenced by the AP Government. “Either the KRMB or the Central government are not doing justice to Telangana which is power starved.
The KRMB has no jurisdiction over allocation of waters, it cannot restrict the state, it acted in a most biased way ostensibly due to the political pressure by the AP government,” Mr Harish Rao said.
“We are exploring possibilities to fight it out in a court of law. Meanwhile, we are sending a dissent note to the KRMB on their decision. The KRMB has been influenced by the AP government time and again, it has acted in a biased manner.
It not only acted on the complaint lodged by the AP within 24 hours, it also passed orders within 48 hours favouring the AP government. This is not right. I am asking why it did not act on the Telangana complaint against AP for using 90 TMC ft in excess of their share? How can it permit water being released even today for Handri-Neeva scheme? Is there any allocation for that project in the Bachawat tribunal? Why is it doing injustice to Telangana only?” asked Mr Harish Rao.
The irrigation minister also accused the Central government for buckling to the pressures of the AP government and bent upon causing injustice to Telangana from time and again. “Why did the Central government fail to ask AP government on denying power share to Telangana all these days?” Mr Harish Rao asked.
( Source : dc correspondent )
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