Hyderabad: The Telangana government on Thursday accused Andhra Pradesh of drawing excess water from the Krishna river, and claimed that unlike their own state, the YSRCP led state was not adhering to their allocated share.
The Telangana government maintained that it was using its share of water judiciously, to fulfill its needs every year, including drinking and agricultural use. Officials stated that they were working within the framework of rules laid down by the Krishna Water Dispute Tribunal-1 (KWDT).
In a letter to the Krishna River Management Board, the irrigation and CAD chief engineer C Muralidhar expressed his concerns over AP’s use of the river water, stating, “Andhra Pradesh, on the other hand, was continuously exhausting its share of water to the last drop, and has been utilizing more than its allocated share for the past seven years. Clause eight of KWDT-I has no relevance for the present case.”
Murlidhar further alleged, “AP has deliberately distracted this Clause eight in its references to mislead the Board. This needs to be viewed seriously.”
The engineer- in chief was satisfied with the judgment of the KWDT-1, stating that it is one of the most impartial tribunals. He then took a dig at neighboring state for finding faults with scheme-B of the tribunal, which calls for proportionate sharing of water. There is a need to understand that the KRMB is supposed to regulate the Krishna waters as per Tribunal Awards and interstate agreements.
Furthermore, Murlidhar highlighted the need for the approval of new projects stressing, “With respect to the above agenda item “Special Chief Secretary, TS stated that the three projects namely, Srisailam Left Bank Canal (SLBC), Mahatma Gandhi Kalwakurthy lift irrigation scheme (MGKLIS) and Nettampadu Lift Irrigation Scheme (NLIS) are in-basin and flood-based projects.
As no water allocation is given to these projects, they are not able to get hydrological clearances and are not able to submit the DPRS” It is to be noted that Telangana and Andhra Pradesh have been involved in the water sharing disputes for the past few years. Earlier this month officials from both states met to deliberate over the issue. The Krishna River Management Board (KRMB) mentioned that the State security arrangements for irrigation projects, wherever applicable, may be continued till the deployment of the Central Industrial Security Force (CISF).
The administration, regulation, operation, and maintenance as prevailing might be continued for a transition period not exceeding three months. The disbursement of salaries and allowances, payments of contract and outsourced staff along with a settlement of bills for running contracts may be continued by the states.