Krishna Tribunal Hearing:Telangana emphasizes need for water reallocation

As part of the ongoing proceedings of the Krishna Water Dispute Tribunal-II, Telangana's legal team, led by Senior Counsel Mr. C S Vaidyanathan on Thursday strongly argued for the reallocation of water resources

Hyderabad: As part of the ongoing proceedings of the Krishna Water Dispute Tribunal-II, Telangana’s legal team, led by Senior Counsel Mr. C S Vaidyanathan on Thursday strongly argued for the reallocation of water resources. The team also highlighted the state’s concerns about water utilization and scientific methods need to be adopted to meet water requirements for agricultural purposes.

Telangana presented its case by emphasizing that with the development of the Capital Region Development Authority, certain areas under the Krishna Delta System, Nagarjuna Sagar Right Canal, and Left Canal now fall within CRDA. It would help in reducing their dependence on Krishna waters. The state contended that the saved water should be redirected to projects within the Krishna basin, particularly benefiting drought-prone areas inside Telangana.

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Telangana’s legal team also pointed out that parts of the NSP Right Canal ayacut could be met through alternative sources, such as lifting water from the Pulichintala project, reducing Andhra Pradesh’s allocation from Krishna waters. Telangana further accused Andhra Pradesh of diverting Krishna basin water for outside-basin projects over the past eleven years, instead of focusing on existing in-basin projects.

The tribunal was also informed that storage capacity in the Pennar and other basins in Andhra Pradesh stands at about 360 TMC, enabling utilization up to 1.4 times this storage. With Telangana proposing the Bollepalli Reservoir to store 150 TMC of water.
Vaidyanathan stressed the importance of scientific methods for computing water requirements for agriculture and cited the Agriculture Affidavit submitted by Palanisami on behalf of Telangana, which aligns with previous estimates from the 1995 Krishna Delta System (KDS) modernization report submitted to the CWC.

Telangana urged the tribunal to ensure that irrigated dry crops are prioritised over wet crops, especially in outside basin areas, arguing that the saved water should be redirected to drought-prone regions within Telangana. This, Telangana believes, would benefit a larger number of farmers and increase the agricultural coverage in the state.

The hearing will continue on May 16 with further discussions expected on water allocations.