CHENNAI, VIJAYAWADA : Chief Minister O Panneerselvam’s visit to Andhra Pradesh in a desperate attempt to obtain drinking water for Chennai failed to win anything big, after the neighbour assured to consider the request, but only depending on the availability and local needs.
Also, Tamil Nadu will have to deal with not one but two states after the bifurcation of erstwhile Andhra Pradesh – of the 5 thousand million cubic feet (tmcft) that is Tamil Nadu’s share, Andhra will release half while the other half has to come from the newly-formed Telangana.
There was a lot of expectations riding on Panneerselvam’s visit on Thursday, where he met his Andhra counterpart N Chandrababu Naidu at the Interim Government Complex at Velagapudi. With the monsoon remaining deficient, Chennai has been facing a severe shortage of drinking water, and is expecting Krishna water to meet the demand that is set to rise in the coming months.
However, Andhra Pradesh made it clear that of the 5 tmcft that has to be released to Tamil Nadu annually under the Inter-State Agreement signed in 1983, only 2.5 tmcft water would be released through the Telugu Ganga canal henceforth. The rest, it added, has to come from Telangana, the sister State that has a share in the resources and liabilities as well.
So far in the second water release cycle, Tamil Nadu has received only 0.99 tmcft of water from Kandaleru reservoir. Facing acute shortage, the government here had requested Andhra to release the remaining share at the earlier. Panneerselvam had written a letter to Naidu in this regard on January 7. When they met in person today, Panneerselvam explained the difficulties faced by the residents of Chennai on account of drinking water scarcity and sought the release of the remaining volume of water. However, Naidu replied that the State could release only half of the original share. “The agreement to release 5 tmcft water was signed when AP was an integrated State. Now Telangana is a separate State and it should release balance 2.5 tmcft,” he said.
Tamil Nadu was asked to approach the Telangana government as well as Krishna River Water Management Board for this. Naidu agreed in principle to release remaining 1.5 tmcft water at the earliest, but after considering the availability and local demand. “We have already released 1 tmcft. A decision on releasing remaining 1.5 tmcft will be taken after considering the availability of water in Kandaleru reservoir and also the local water demand,” Naidu said.
According to sources, it was decided that irrigation secretaries of both the states would hold meeting at Tirupati to discuss and take a decision on further water release to Chennai.
During the meeting, AP officials asked Tamil Nadu for the Rs 443 crore towards maintenance cost of Telugu Ganga Canal. Sources in Andhra said the latter expressed its willingness to pay, but only after it made its own assessment as to how much Andhra had spent on maintenance of the canal. Observing that the agreement also covered the cost sharing for the project towards the common components between the two states, Panneerselvam said Tamil Nadu had so far paid Rs 687 crore to the AP government. “The Tamil Nadu government officials have been instructed to make an immediate on account release of funds towards the State’s share of the cost of the project,” a statement in Chennai quoted the Chief Minister.
Representing Tamil Nadu, PWD Minister ‘Edappadi’ K Palanisamy, Chief Secretary Girija Vaidyanathan, advisor to Tamil Nadu government Sheela Balakrishnan, and senior officials took part. On behalf of AP government, Agriculture Minister Prathipati Pulla Rao, HRD Minister Ganta Srinivasa Rao and special chief secretary Ajeya Kallam participated.