Telangana Puts AP on the Spot on Krishna Water Use
AP, the Telangana government informed the CWC, had already drawn 30 tmc ft ft from Pothireddypadu of the 34 tmc ft it was allowed to.
Hyderabad:Telangana has made it clear to Andhra Pradesh, in the presence of the Central Water Commission (CWC), that its drinking water and power needs were paramount for it and that its decisions on using the Srisailam left bank power house will be based on what is best for the state under the current circumstances.
Telangana, at a meeting with Andhra Pradesh called for by the CWC in New Delhi on Monday, is learnt to have rejected AP’s demand that it immediately stop power production at the Srisalam left bank power house with AP claiming that Telangana was using this as an excuse to draw water from Srisailam and take the water to Nagarjunasagar.
In response, Telangana is learnt to have made it clear that with the El Nino effect had impacted rainfall and affected water storage, it was using the water very judiciously, and required water at Nagarjunasagar, downstream of Srisailam, to meet drinking water needs of Hyderabad. Telangana also pointed out that AP, on the other hand, had been overdrawing water from its Pothireddypadu head regulator on the backwaters of Srisailam reservoir over and above what it can.
AP, the Telangana government informed the CWC, had already drawn 30 tmc ft ft from Pothireddypadu of the 34 tmc ft it was allowed to. Of the drawn water, AP has already crossed the limit of the drinking water component of its drawals, and instead of pointing fingers at Telangana, AP should first stop its overdrawal from Pothireddypadu, Telangana officials told their AP counterparts at the meeting, it is learnt.
The meeting also provided some clarity on the issue of Godavari-Cauvery river linking project with the CWC making it clear to Telangana and AP that it will be the one which will draw the blueprint for the project. It is expected that the offtake point for taking Godavari water to Cauvery will be the Sammakka barrage in Telangana. There have been some concerns on this issue as AP was pushing for its Polavaram project as the offtake point, which if implemented, would severely hurt Telangana’s Godavari water share interests.
Telangana, it is learnt, also made it clear that it will not agree to any changes to the 22 projects on Krishna and Godavari in the state that were identified prior to 2013 as part of 25 projects in the then unified AP as drought mitigation projects.
When AP demanded that water availability in Godavari be reassessed, the Telangana side opposed this proposal and informed the CWC that existing allocations and sharing agreements must prevail. Following this, the CWC asked AP that any doubts it has should be addressed to the CWC.
