Chennai: Andhra Pradesh has agreed to release two TMC feet water to Tamil Nadu to meet the drinking water requirement, State Municipal Administration Minister S.P. Velumani, said on Friday.
Mr. Velumani was part of a Ministerial delegation, including his senior cabinet colleague D. Jayakumar, that called on Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Y. S. Jaganmohan Reddy, at Amaravathi earlier in the day and sought early release of water. The AP CM responded positively and directed the Water Resources Department authorities to release the water immediately.
"Today we had called on Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister and requested him to release the Krishna water due to us and he immediately agreed to it," Mr. Velumani told reporters upon his return to Chennai. The 2 TMC ft is the balance of the 4 TMC ft water committed to Tamil Nadu, he said and added that till July end this year, the neighbouring State had released 2.79 TMC ft water.
The delegation had visited the Andhra Pradesh capital on the instruction of Chief Minister Edappadi K. Palaniswami. Apprising Mr. Jaganmohan Reddy about the acute water crisis in Chennai, the ministers said about 90 lakh residents are stressed due to scarcity of water and urged him to extend a helping hand. Ministers: Velumani and Jayakumar handed over a letter to Mr. Reddy on behalf of Mr. Palaniswami, requesting the immediate release of drinking water through the Telugu Ganga canal.
"Neighbouring States should act like brothers, one should share the troubles of others. One has to understand the pain of others. When lakhs of people are suffering, we have to act on humanitarian grounds," the AP CM told the delegation.
"Earlier, there was a dearth of storage and they were unable to release water. Today the situation is favourable as there is good inflow into Srisailam dam," Mr. Velumani told reporters at Chennai airport. The request was made at a right time and the Andhra Pradesh CM immediately agreed to it, he added. As per the inter-state agreement, eight TMC water for the July-October period would be released from the Krishna river.
