Furnish water requirements till May, Krishna River Management Board tells Telangana and AP

HYDERABAD: The Krishna River Management Board (KRMB) wrote a letter to both Andhra Pradesh and Telangana States requesting them to furnish month-wise indents up to end of May 2019. As both the States are drawing water from Krishna for Rabi crops, the water level at Srisailam was below Minimum Drawdown Level (MDDL). As the water situation was precarious, the KRMB asked the sibling States to furnish their water requirements.

“It is once again requested to furnish the month-wise indents up to end of May this year along with water use account keeping in view the precarious situation of water availability in Srisailam reservoir,” KRMB member-secretary Harikesh Meena said in the letter written on Friday.

The KRMB member-secretary said that the engineers-in-chief of both the States were requested not to draw water to any of the systems below MDDL under Srisailam reservoir without prior approval of three-member committee. Both the States were asked to come up with comprehensive proposals for their requirements month-wise up to end  of May 2019 along with water use account in entire Krishna Basin at the earliest. But, no proposals were received to this office so far, the member-secretary said. 

The Board informed both states that the available water in Nagarjuna Sagar is 31.641 tmcft  and the water available at the dead storage at MDDL is 131.669 tmcft. However, the water level at Srisailam is below the MDDL. 

The water available in Srisailam is minus 4.861 tmcft  (negative indicates below MDDL). The water available at dead storage at MDDL is 53.851 tmcft at Srisailam. However, the TS irrigation officials said that AP and TS were still drawing water from Krishna for Rabi crop needs. However, TS officials pointed out that AP was drawing more than its quota unofficially and Telangana was drawing water allocated by the KRMB.