Telangana asks KRMB to stop AP from dumping waste into Krishna River

Hyderabad: The Telangana government on Tuesday urged the chairman of the Krishna River Management Board (KRMB) to prevent Andhra Pradesh from illegally dumping tunnel waste in the Srisailam reservoir. It also requested the Board to obtain full details from AP duly inspecting the site urgently, to arrive at proper assessment and initiated immediate action in this regard.

Telangana Engineer-in-Chief for Irrigation C Muralidhar, in his letter, cited a news report published by a Telugu vernacular daily that said the contractor of Veligonda project was illegally dumping freshly excavated tunnel waste of the project into the Srisailam reservoir during night hours.

The waste was allegedly generated from the Veligonda project tunnel works from Kothuru, Dornal mandal in Prakasam district and was being dumped along the banks of Krishna River towards Srisailam right bank. The report stated that thousands of tonnes of waste material was being dumped into the reservoir for the past several days.

The Telangana government expressed concern that the already diminishing water storage capacity of Srisailam reservoir would further get reduced due to the waste dumping. The mixing of such hazardous waste containing explosive compounds could affect cultivation and drinking water requirements.

Muralidhar urged the KRMB to initiate necessary action to prevent the agency and the Andhra Pradesh government from taking up such illegal activities and also inspect the site urgently for a proper assessment.