Irrigation experts call for Cabinet decision on handing over projects to KRMB

The decision of the Ministry of Jal Shakti to hand over the operational control of the joint projects of the two Telugu states to the Krishna River Management Board is driven by a political agenda

Hyderabad: The decision of the Ministry of Jal Shakti to hand over the operational control of the joint projects of the two Telugu states to the Krishna River Management Board is driven by a political agenda, felt irrigation experts.

Jal Shakti Secretary Debashree Mukherjee, who chaired a high level meeting of the Irrigation Secretaries and irrigation officials from the two States in Delhi on Wednesday, was also keen on handing over the projects to the river management without any need for referring to the all-powerful apex council.

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She has reportedly insisted that operational control of the joint projects including the Nagarjuna Sagar Dam and Srisailam Project along with 15 other outlets under them should be an official decision. Telangana officials however have made it clear that the handing over the control of joint projects was not a minor issue, and it cannot be a decision to be taken at their level at any cost. The State cabinet has to decide whether to part with the operational control over the Nagarjuna Sagar Project or not.

The political executive in the State is just one and a half month old in the State and it has to be briefed about the consequences of such a decision before the Chief Minister would be able to take a call, they submitted. The Centre’s move is aimed at benefitting Andhra Pradesh in multiple ways, said the irrigation experts. By placing the Srisailam dam under the control of the KRMB, the Centre wanted to deprive Telangana of its right to draw of water from the project for generation of power at its own hydel stations.

Telangana state can draw water for power generation up to level of 8006 feet in Srsailam project which will not be in the interest of Andhra Pradesh. AP irrigation officials were always insisting on maintaining the Project level above 842 feet to 854 feet so that they would be able to draw water from the Pothireddypadu Head Regulator (PHR) at its full capacity. Once the project is handed over to the KRMB, AP can insist of maintaining the desired water level in the project to suit their needs.

AP is keen on a decision over the operational control of both the main projects in Krishna basin well before the Parliamentary polls to project it as its victory. The centre’s move to force TS to hand over the projects would in a way amount to playing in to the hands of the AP government, said the experts.