VIJAYAWADA : The operational control of Nagarjuna Sagar and Srisailam projects on Krishna river, shared by both Andhra Pradesh and Telangana, will now be in the hands of Krishna River Management Board (KRMB).
A decision to this effect was taken in the meeting among Debashree Mukherjee, Secretary, Department of Water Resources, River Development and Ganga Rejuvenation, Ministry of Jal Shakti, and Engineers-in-Chief of both AP and Telangana held in New Delhi on Wednesday.
Speaking to TNIE, AP ENC (Water Resources) Narayana Reddy said they agreed to hand over the control of common projects on Krishna river, including Nagarjuna Sagar and Srisailam, to the KRMB. “The protocol issues need to be handed over to the KRMB within a week and the actual handing over the control of the projects has to be done within a month,” he explained.
According to the ENC, there will be another meeting after 15 days to discuss technical issues related to the handing over the control of the projects to the KRMB like power projects and others. During the meeting, Telangana wanted the status-quo prior to November 28 to be maintained, but the same was declined.
In fact, as per the notification of jurisdiction of KRMB dated 15th July 2021, both the States of AP and Telangana are mandated to hand over the irrigation and power projects of River Krishna as mentioned in Schedule-2 of the said Gazette Notification to the KRMB.
However, both the States have not handed over the administration, regulation, maintenance and operation of such projects to the KRMB, as disclosed by Union Minister for Jal Shakti Gajendra Singh Shekhawat in the Rajya Sabha in August, 2022.
The face-off between AP and Telangana over the control of Nagarjuna Sagar project operation for the release of water on November 28, 2023 only make the Jal Shakti Ministry take a serious view of entire issue.