KWDT-II proceedings: Telangana seeks fair water apportionment

Senior Counsel for Telangana, CS Vaidyanathan emphasized that Telangana was only seeking fair and equitable apportionment of Krishna waters between the two States and assured that AP would not be deprived of its rightful share

New Delhi: Telangana has presented a detailed case of its water requirement on Wednesday as Krishna Water Disputes Tribunal-II (KWDT-II), chaired by Justice Brijesh Kumar concluded its session of final arguments today. The tribunal has scheduled further arguments from Telangana for April 15 to 17.

Senior Counsel for Telangana, CS Vaidyanathan emphasized that Telangana was only seeking fair and equitable apportionment of Krishna waters between the two States and assured that Andhra Pradesh (AP) would not be deprived of its rightful share. When queried by the Chairman regarding water allocation to outside basin areas, he highlighted that, out of 512 TMC allocated through internal arrangements by erstwhile AP, 323 TMC are diverted to outside basin projects, while only 189 TMC is utilized within the basin. He added that allocating 555 TMC from the 75% dependable water would not impact AP’s in-basin utilizations.

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The counsel further argued that AP has additional water sources for its projects, making more water available for Telangana within the basin. Specifically, the Krishna Delta System (KDS) of AP benefits from 43.2 TMC of water available under the drains and 80 TMC of Godavari water diverted through the Polavaram Project. Additionally, the Pattiseema Lift Irrigation Scheme, operational since 2015, has contributed significantly to Krishna Delta system, transferring over 100 TMC in some years, including 40 TMC in the deficit year of 2023-24 when KDS utilized 125 TMC overall. Vaidyanathan also underscored disparities in water allocations made by erstwhile AP for the Srisailam Left Bank Canal (SLBC) and Srisailam Right Bank Canal (SRBC).

While SLBC was designed to serve in-basin areas with a capacity of 150 TMC, it was allocated surplus water. Conversely, SRBC, serving outside basin areas, was prioritized for dependable water allocations. The counsel further pointed out that the Telugu Ganga Project, catering to outside basin needs, was given priority over SLBC in earlier tribunal proceedings.