Centre intervenes to stop illegal water drawal by AP

Home Secretary orders status quo at NSP

Hyderabad: Timely intervention by the Centre warded off what could have been an ugly face-off between Andhra Pradesh and Telangana governments on Friday, after Andhra Pradesh deployed its police forces and attempted to draw more than its share of water from Nagarjuna Sagar dam. As tensions escalated between two states, Home Secretary Ajay Bhalla intervened to direct the restoration of the status quo at the dam site. This order includes the immediate withdrawal of Andhra Pradesh forces, who recently assumed control over the dam’s operations.

The conflict escalated following Andhra Pradesh’s attempts to draw more than its allocated share of water, a move contested by Telangana. Bhalla’s directive came in response to an overnight operation where Andhra Pradesh forces took control of the dam’s 13 gates and the right canal head regulator. This takeover involved damaging CCTV cameras and other infrastructure at the dam office, actions that have intensified the dispute between the neighbouring states.

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The Nagarjunasagar Dam, a critical water resource in the region, has traditionally been under the operational jurisdiction of Telangana’s Irrigation Department. The recent developments mark a significant escalation in the ongoing water-sharing dispute between Andhra Pradesh and Telangana, necessitating central intervention to maintain order and uphold existing agreements.

The union Home Secretary took exception to the midnight operations in which Andhra Pradesh police intruded into the project and took control of all operations. The intervention came close on the heels of the decision of Telangana State to scale up its deployment of police at the project to beat back the forcible occupation of a major portion of the project by Andhra Pradesh.

The Home Secretary held a video conference with the Chief Secretaries, Irrigation Secretaries and DGPs of the two states and asked them to restore normalcy immediately. He directed the Krishna River Management Board officials to reach the dam site immediately and initiate measures to defuse tension on the inter- state borders.

He also directed officials to step up surveillance at the project if needed by drawing reinforcements from the CRPF stationed in both States. He wanted the obstructions put up by barricading and fencing of the roads leading to the dam by Andhra Pradesh to be cleared immediately.

Officials of the Ministry of Jal Shakti and the Central Water Commission, who also took part in the conference were asked to monitor the situation closely and initiate measures to avoid any untoward incidents.

High level meeting on Saturday

As a follow up, a high-level meeting of officials of the two Telugu States as well as the Krishna River Management Board and the Central Water Commission will be held to discuss steps to resolve the conflict over the sharing of water available in both Nagarjunasagar Dam and the Srisailam project on Saturday.

The KRMB also dashed off a letter to the Principal Secretary, Water Resources Department of Andhra Pradesh on Friday evening directing him to “stop drawal of water from the NSP right canal immediately”. The water indent raised by Andhra Pradesh seeking 15 TMC from Nagarjuna Sagar reservoir was considered by the three-member committee of the KRBM. As per the KRMB water release order, five TMC was to be released to Andhra Pradesh from October 10 to 29 and five TMC more from January 8 to January 18. In the last round scheduled from April 8 to April 18, Andhra Pradesh will be entitled to five more TMC.

In October 2023, about 5.016 tmc of water was released to AP and rest of the demand was to be met in January and April 2024. AP had not raised any revised indent seeking more water from the project before November 30. Taking a serious view of the forcible opening of gates for the release of water, the KRMB directed AP to stop the water drawal from the right canal immediately.