'Polavaram project to ease woes of Krishna delta', says Telangana's witness

HYDERABAD: The cross examination of Telangana witness before the Brijesh Kumar Tribunal resumed after several months on Wednesday.

The witness from Telangana, Ghanashyam Jha said that once Polavaram Project becomes a reality, Krishna delta could depend more on Polavaram, both for quantity of water and its timeliness, than on Pulichintala.  He said in reply to a question posed by R Venkaaramani, senior advocate for Andhra Pradesh, during the cross examination. The cross examination would continue for two more days. 

The Andhra Pradesh advocate said: "Krishna delta system had to realise 131.73 tmcft during Khariff season and 20.4 tmcft during Rabi season. Second, 80 tmcft of diverted Godavari water is available to Krishna delta System, only during the months of July to November. Third, both during the Kharif and the Rabi season, KDS does not get any support from Godavari and consequently the demands have to be  met from the flows from Nagarjuna Sagar/Pulichintala Projects."

In reply, Jha said, "KDS had three different sources of water - Polavaram (80 tmcft), Pattiseema (80 tmcft) and Drains (75 tmcft). In addition, the yield of the Krishna river betwen Nagarjuna Sagar Project and Prakasam barrage was 101.2 tmcft. I think, these sources are enough to provide water to the KDS project."

Water level

The Andhra Pradesh advocate pointed out that the water level in Polavaram was over and above 135 feet, which happens between July and November alone and termed the statement of the Telangana witness as inaccurate.

But, the Telangana witness did not agree with that. The Telangana witness said that the storage of the dam provides more flexibility in water use. Any prescribed utilisation derived from it only comes from the live storage. However, other storage not meant for that purpose can be used to address emergency situations, the Telangana witness said.