GUNTUR: Row over the sharing of Krishna river water between Andhra Pradesh and Telangana was temporarily resolved as both the States have agreed to hand over the maintenance of the Nagarjuna Sagar Project (NSP) to the Krishna River Management Board (KRMB) on Friday. Subsequently, the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) took over security of the project.
The development comes after irrigation officials from Andhra Pradesh took control of NSP gates from 14 to 26 on November 29 and released water at the rate of 2,000 cusecs to the project right canal. This further led to a face-off between Telangana police and its counterparts in AP.
Following the incident, Union Home Secretary Ajay Kumar Bhalla, along with the Ministry of Water Resources secretary, officials from Central Water Commission and KRMB, held a video conference with chief secretaries and DGPs of both States on Friday.
Telangana Chief Secretary A Santhi Kumari informed the authorities that over 500 police personnel from the AP Special Protection Force barged into the project site on the night of November 29, damaged CCTV cameras, and forcefully opened head regulators at gate 5 and 7 to release over 5,000 cusecs of water.
He said the release of water has inconvenienced over two crore people in Hyderabad and surrounding areas.In response, Ajay Kumar declared that the status quo of the project will continue like before.
Further, he announced that a special meeting will be held under the leadership of the Ministry of Water Resources Secretary to resolve the issue.
On the other hand, KRMB has instructed officials of the AP irrigation department to stop withdrawing water from project. Officials of the river water management board reportedly visited the project site and inspected the situation. They also sent a letter to the chief secretary of AP Water Resources department, pointing out that five TMC water was allotted to Andhra Pradesh in October and that over 5.01 TMC of water had already been released.
However, AP irrigation minister Ambati Rambabu asserted that the State has not flouted any treaty. Emphasising that 66% of the Krishna river water in NSP belongs to Andhra Pradesh, he said the State has only used its rightful share.
Speaking to reporters, he said, “The fact is that only half of the dam comes under the control of Telangana. However, the neighbouring State has occupied the entire project and did not even allow us to draw our rightful share of water during the previous TDP government’s tenure.”
Declaring that the ruling YSRC would not stay calm over the occupation of the project by Telangana, he said the government will take necessary action to provide sufficient water to the people of AP. Meanwhile, a crucial meeting is scheduled to be held by the Union Jal Shakti secretary to discuss the transfer of administration of Srisailam and NSP to the KRMB at 11 am on Saturday.
Crucial meeting today
The Union Jal Shakti secretary is scheduled to conduct a crucial meeting to discuss the transfer of administration of Srisailam dam and NSP to the KRMB at 11 am on Saturday