HYDERABAD: Andhra Pradesh has kicked off a fresh row over the Nagarjunasagar Project (NSP), this time regarding the operation of its gates. AP contends that the operation of NSP gates by Telangana is not being carried out in a planned manner, posing a threat to projects downstream in AP. However, Telangana officials refute this, stating that the operation of the NSP gates depends entirely on discharges from Srisailam.
Telangana officials said the sudden operation of the gates at Srisailam and the failure of AP officials to maintain a flood cushion were the real causes of the problem. Refuting AP’s allegations, a Telangana official told the TNIE that “the outflows from NSP have been higher than the discharges from Srisailam” for the last few days. It may be recalled that AP operates the Srisailam gates while Telangana operates the NSP gates.
The row began on Tuesday night, when AP officials contacted Telangana officials, requesting the release of water from NSP. On Wednesday, AP Irrigation Engineer- in-Chief K Narasimha Murthy, in a letter to Telangana officials, wrote: “It is to inform you that the Chief Engineer, Nagarjuna Sagar Project, Guntur, reported that sufficient flood cushion in the NSP dam is not being maintained and the crest gates of the spillway are not being operated while duly monitoring the inflows from upstream. The reservoir level in NSP at 11 am on Wednesday was +589.20 feet and the capacity is 309.6546 tmcft; the flood cushion is only 2.4 tmcft. Based on the weather forecast, inflows are further expected to increase in the coming days due to heavy rainfall in the upstream catchment areas. If the crest gates of the spillway are not operated in a planned manner while duly monitoring inflows from upstream, it may lead to untoward incidents in Andhra Pradesh.”
The officials lifted two gates of NSP on Tuesday, a few more on Wednesday morning, and all 26 gates by evening. A Telangana official recalled that AP opened only four gates of Srisailam on Tuesday and three more on Wednesday. However, another TG official, speaking on condition of anonymity, told the TNIE that AP officials did not maintain a flood cushion at Srisailam as they feared Amaravati would be flooded if water was released downstream.