HYDERABAD: Telangana irrigation officials on Tuesday requested the Krishna River Management Board (KRMB) to restrain Andhra Pradesh from taking up the construction of two barrages downstream of Prakasam Barrage.
AP government in June accorded administrative approval for the construction of the two barrages.
“Telangana has already communicated to the KRMB to restrain Andhra Pradesh from taking up the new barrages in October 2020 itself,” Telangana Irrigation Engineer-in-Chief C Muralidhar said in a letter to the KRMB chairman.
Pumped storage issue
In another letter, Muralidhar said that AP was taking up one more pumped storage project. It was reported that two pumped storage projects a 1,000 MW plant in Gandikota in Kadapa district and a 500 MW plant in Chitravathi in Anantapur district are proposed.
“Now, one more pumped storage scheme at Gandikota is proposed by AP connected with the Krishna river. Drinking water requirements are the highest priority in the National Water Policy and water diverted from drought-prone areas is being stored for power generation or pumped storage schemes.
Hence, once again, the KRMB is requested to examine all pumped storage schemes taken up without the appraisal/approval of the Central Water Commission and KRMB/Apex Council,” Muralidhar said in his letter to KRMB.