HYDERABAD: The Telangana government will bring pressure on its Andhra Pradesh counterpart for release of 2 tmc from Srisailam for the drinking water needs of Hyderabad and Nalgonda. The TS government will take up the issue with Krishna River Management Board (KRMB) also. The state wants to take up the issue of release of two tmc water from Srisailam because the AP was drawing water from Srisailam for drinking water needs of Anantapur district through Handri-Neeva from Friday onwards. The AP government started operating four out of the 12 pumps at Muchumarri Lift irrigation project in Pagidyala in Kurnool district.
The current level at Srisailam was 813.3 feet and the AP was drawing water for drinking water needs. Sources said that when AP was drawing water for the needs of their people, the water could be released for Telangana too. Currently, the State government is drawing water from Akkampalli from Udayasamudram for Nalgonda district’s water needs. “The water will be available for next 15 days only. Hyderabad too requires Krishna water for drinking water needs,” the sources said.
“We will try to draw water through power generation releases for drinking water purpose of Hyderabad,” sources said. However, the TS officials have decided to bring pressure on AP through KRMB for meeting the drinking water needs of Hyderabad. As there was no telemetry system in place at Muchumarri, the Telangana irrigation officials kept a tab on how much water the AP was diverting to Handri-Neeva daily. AP could draw 3,850 cusecs once all the 12 pumps of Muchumarri are operated, said sources.