HYDERABAD: Ending the ‘illegal’ water drawal row, albeit temporarily, Krishna River Management Board (KRMB) on Friday allowed Telangana and Andhra Pradesh to draw nine and 16 tmcft water respectively from river Krishna for meeting their drinking water needs for the next one and a half month.
The three-member committee of the Krishna River Management Board (KRMB) took a decision to this effect at a meeting held here on Friday.
AP will get five tmcft for Handri-Neeva Sujala Sravanthi (HNSS), an equal volume for Pothireddypadu Head Regulator for the drinking water needs of the Rayalaseema region. AP will get another six tmcft from Nagarjuna Sagar Project right canal for the drinking water needs of Guntur and Prakasam districts.
Telangana will get 5 tmcft for Kalwakurthy from Srisailam and two tmcft each for meeting drinking water needs of Hyderabad and Nalgonda districts from Nagarjuna Sagar. “For this, we have to release 16 tmcft from Srisailam project to Nagarjuna Sagar project,” KRMB member-secretary Samir Chatterjee said.
Chatterjee said that at the meeting it has been decided to maintain 510 ft level at Nagarjuna Sagar and 854 ft level at Srisailam.The two sibling states, which are already fighting for their share of the river Krishna waters, are at loggerheads since the past week over the drawal of water by the two states even before the KRMB took a decision.Reacting to the ‘illegal drawals’, Chatterjee said the full board meeting would be held on October 15 which will take stock of the situation arising out of the “illegal drawal” of water by both AP and TS. “We will assess the available water in Krishna after the completion of monsoon. Then, we will take a call on further release of water in the full board meeting,” Chatterjee said.
At Friday’s meeting, AP pressed for its indent of 17 tmc, which was already submitted by the State to the KRMB. But, TS wanted release of 40 tmc water for drinking water needs of Mahbubnagar, Nagarkurnool, Nalgonda and Hyderabad. However, the board decided to release only 9 tmcft and the rest of the demand will be taken up in the full board meeting.