While the Telangana government on Tuesday knocked the doors of the Krishna River Water Management Board, Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy stated that his government was well within its right to draw water from Srisailam to the extent of what was due to Andhra Pradesh .
Jagan, who held a high-level meeting with state Water Resources Minister P Anil Kumar and top irrigation officials to discuss the water sharing dispute between the two Telugu speaking states, stated that the issue of water sharing should be looked at a humanitarian perspective. “People in Rayalaseema, Nellore and Prakasam are suffering as they are deprived of drinking water. Therefore, this should be looked from humanitarian perspective,” he said. “What is wrong in drawing water what is due to Andhra Pradesh,” he questioned
Further, he pointed out that 44,000 cusecs of water can be drawn if the water level at Srisailam has reached 888 feet. “Such levels are witnessed only 10 days in a year. Those 10 days, it is essential to draw water to fulfill the needs of people in Rayalaseema, Nellore and Prakasam districts. If the water level at Srisailam falls to 854 feet, barely 7,000 cusecs of water could be drawn from Pothireddipadu Head Regulator. If the water level further dips to 841 feet, only 1,000 cusecs of water could be drawn from Pothireddipadu Head Regulator,” Jagan explained.
Assuring that the AP government will not draw additional water, Jagan said even the Krishna River Water Management Board will not approve if the state government attempts to lift more water than what is agreed upon.
Earlier, Principal Secretary (Irrigation) Rajat Kumar on Tuesday shot off a letter to the Krishna River Water Management Board complaining against the AP government’s move to construct a new irrigation project to lift 3 TMC of water from Srisailam project. In the letter, Rajat Kumar complained that the AP government took a “unilateral decision” in issuing the GO. Further, the Irrigation Principal Secretary pointed out that the GO was issued without the consulting the Telangana government. Seeking immediate intervention to halt the AP government’s move to lift water from Srisailam, Rajat Kumar pointed out that as per the AP Reorganization Act, it is legally binding on both the governments to get an approval from the Apex Committee for taking up any project on inter-State rivers either in Telangana or AP. In the letter to the KRMB, Rajat Kumar demanded the board to stop the construction immediately as the project has been taken up in violation of AP Reorganisation Act 2014. “The Andhra Pradesh government should withdraw its GO 203 as it would have serious consequences for the farmers of Telangana. It is not proper or within the jurisdiction of AP alone to proceed with the construction of any new project without complying with the guidelines stipulated in the Reorganisation Act, Rajat Kumar wrote in his letter.
On late Monday evening, Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrasekhara Rao who held a high-level review meeting at his camp office at Pragathi Bhavan expressed his displeasure over the AP government “unilateral decision” in issuing the GO. He asked the legal department to mull the options before the Telangana government including moving the Supreme Court and file a complaint before the Krishna River Water Management Board.. “It is an inter-State project. The said GO issued by the AP government is against the AP Reorganization Act. We should challenge this in Krishna River Water Management Board and also look at legal options,” KCR told the officials.
On Tuesday, Telangana Minister T Harish Rao demanded that the Jagan government withdraw its GO as it would have serious consequences for the farmers of Telangana for generations to come. The GO amounted to illegally take away Telangana waters. If 10 TMC water is diverted on a daily basis, then the Telangana irrigation projects will be badly hit.
Telangana Energy Minister Jagadish Reddy slammed the Andhra Pradesh government’s decision to draw water from Srisailam saying it was an immature and incorrect move especially when KCR was always in the forefront to maintain friendly relations with neighbors. “He always said we should not have a confrontational approach when dealing with neighbors and he stood by it in letter and spirit. However, this GO issued by Andhra Pradesh is not acceptable and the CM is very serious in taking legal recourse,” Jagadish Reddy said.
