Hyderabad: The Godavari River Management Board (GRMB) has agreed to consider the TS government’s objections to AP diverting Godavari water to the Krishna basin through the Pattiseema scheme.
TS officials raised the issue of settlement of Pattiseema water diversion to Krishna basin without any share for Telangana state. AP officials initially objected, stating that the GRMB was not the authority to decide on water allocation between riparian states.
TS irrigation special chief secretary S.K. Joshi then asked the board meeting at the Jala-soudha complex what was the purpose of the GRMB, constituted by a law of Parliament, if not to adjudicate on water disputes and allocations.
He asked that when more than 100 tmc ft of water from the Godavari was being diverted to the Krishna basin, how could a riparian state like TS not seek its share.
GRMB chairman H.K. Sahu intervened and asked the TS official to furnish details of the issue that it wanted to get resolved and the board would take it up. It was also decided that the two states would exchange information on existing and completed projects on the Godavari river.
Board member-secretary Sameer Chatterjee said that like on the Krishna river, in the Godavari too telemetry stations would be set up at agreed locations to estimate water flows.
AP pins it all on Krishna panel
TS senior counsel C.S. Vaidyanathan on Tuesday tried to establish that AP had been diverting assu-red water from the Srisailam dam to a number of projects in Rayalaseema.
Replying to the cross-examination at a meeting of the Krishna River Management Board here, AP irrigation witness K.V. Subba Rao denied the charge but admitted that the government had constructed additional reservoirs and canals, widened the structures and drawal capacity. This was done as per the Krisha Disputes Tri-bunal-1 verdict which gave liberty to AP to use surplus waters in whatever manner it deemed appropriate.
Mr Subba Rao said that it was the decision of the designer to place the Pothireddy-padu regulator sill level at 841 ft instead of 880 ft to allow surplus waters and not assured waters as queried by Mr Vaidyanathan.
Mr Subba Rao said the Chennai drinking water supplies and supplies to Srisailam right branch canal formed part of the assured water quota, and putting the regulator’s sill level at 841 ft was justified.
Mr Vaidyanathan posed a series of questions as to how the drawal capacity of Krishna waters from Nagarjunasagar dam through the Left Bank Canal was lowered as well as reducing the total command area in Telangana.
Mr Subba Rao replied that it was done as per the decisions of the Estimates Committee which had gone through the issue and approved the explanation given by engineers.
He said that due to a breach of the Krishna river bank during the 2009 floods at the Srisailam dam, more than one lakh cusecs of water had gushed into the regulator and Srisailam right bank main canal but that was not due to incre-ased discharge provided at the regulator.
Mr Vaidyanathan pointed out that the technical advisory committee on inter-state rivers had proposed 30 tmc ft allocation to Srisailam left branch canal from the proposed 45 tmc ft of Godavari water diversion to the Krishna basin upon completion of Polavaram dam. Mr Subba Rao denied this.
