HYDERABAD: Irrigation principal secretary Rahul Bojja and engineer-in-chief (general) Anil Kumar on Friday wanted the Krishna River Management Board (KRMB) to stop all the drawals by Andhra Pradesh from common reservoirs of Srisailam and Nagarjunasagar projects with immediate effect. As on Friday, the state of Andhra utilised water far in excess of its entitlement as per the KRMB records and therefore the Telangana could not draw any water from the common reservoirs, the Telangana officials said.
The Telangana officials submitted an indent to utilise 107 tmcft for drinking and irrigation needs till May and requested the KRMB to issue water release order accordingly. Telangana wanted 90 tmcft for irrigation and 17 tmcft for drinking water till May 31.
The three-member committee meeting of the KRMB, scheduled on Thursday, has been postponed to Monday, as requested by the Andhra Pradesh government. However, the Telangana Irrigation officials, who attended the meeting, registered their protest against the excessive usage of Krishna water by the neighbouring state.
In view of AP seeking postponement of the Friday meeting to February 24, the Telangana officials requested the KRMB to ensure the stoppage of all drawls by AP from Srisailam and NSP until the matter is taken up in the upcoming meeting.
During the arguments before the Brijesh Kumar Tribunal, Telangana advocates urged the Tribunal to allocate 71% of the 811 tmcft on the basis of basin parameters. There is a need to consider the new areas, which have been historically denied water and farmers are looking for irrigation of single crop, the Telangana advocates told the tribunal. It is also brought to the attention of the bench that the Telangana is not seeking water for cultivation of high-water-consuming crops like paddy or sugarcane but, is seeking water for dry crops. Senior advocate CS Vaidyanathan and other advocates and engineer-in-chief Vijayabhaskar Reddy and other engineers attended the proceedings on behalf of Telangana.