Deployment of CRPF Personnel at Sagar Dam Extended by 6 Months
Any shortage in supply of water causes trouble for people both for their daily use and for cultivation except for the alternative drawing 80 tmc-ft of water from Godavari river through the Pattiseema project.
Vijayawada: Amid the escalating tension between AP and Telangana on water sharing, the Centre has extended the deployment of CRPF personnel at Nagarjuna Sagar Dam up to the end of this year.
The Union ministry of home affairs stated this in a recent communique to AP chief secretary.
It said the deployment would be extended from July 1 to December 31, 2025. The existing term ends by June 30.
Tension is anticipated also as chief minister Nara Chandrababu Naidu recently came up with the Polavaram-Banakacherla Link project plan, at an estimated cost of over Rs 81,000 crore, to utilise nearly 200 tmc-ft of water from the 3,000 tmc-ft that goes waste into the sea per annum from the present irrigation system.
He proposed to use a part of this water to meet the drinking water and agricultural needs of Rayalaseema.
However, Telangana chief minister Revanth Reddy raised an objection and sought allocation of 1,500 tmc-ft of the water for his state by way of a compromise arrangement. The two CMs are getting ready for talks in this respect.
Notably, at Nagarjuna Sagar Dam, out of the 26 radial crest gates, gates 1 to 13 are under the control of Telangana, while gates 14 to 26 are under AP’s control. However, for want of adequate manpower with AP, Telangana is operating all the gates at present.
The nine gates of head regulator found in the extension of the dam are crucial for AP to release water through Nagarjuna Sagar right canal to meet the drinking and irrigation needs in parts of Guntur, Palnadu, Bapatla and Prakasam districts.
Any shortage in supply of water causes trouble for people both for their daily use and for cultivation except for the alternative drawing 80 tmc-ft of water from Godavari river through the Pattiseema project.
AP has been facing trouble from Telangana over excess drawal of water for crop cultivation and for generation of hydro-electric power. There was tension even over measuring the quantum of water being released to their respective canals, with claims and counterclaims of either side “drawing more water but showing less in the records.”
An official from the water resources department said, “The Centre’s move to extend the duration of deployment of CRPF personnel would help de-escalate a tense situation between AP and TG on water-sharing.”
