‘Telangana judicious in water use, AP overdrawing’

Hyderabad: The Telangana government has said it was utilising its allocated share of water in River Krishna ever year judiciously and conservatively and carrying over the rightful part of water out of its equitable share to the next water year to meet the drinking water requirements and also to meet the delayed inflows in the […]

Hyderabad: The Telangana government has said it was utilising its allocated share of water in River Krishna ever year judiciously and conservatively and carrying over the rightful part of water out of its equitable share to the next water year to meet the drinking water requirements and also to meet the delayed inflows in the next water year for its exigency irrigation needs as per the provisions of KWDT-I.

In a letter to Krishna River Management Board (KRMB), Irrigation and CAD Engineer-in-Chief C Muralidhar said Andhra Pradesh, on the other hand, was continuously exhausting its share of water to the last drop, and has been utilising more than its allocated share for the past seven years. Clause-VIII of KWDT-I has no relevance for the present case.

AP has deliberately distracted this Clause-VIIl of KWDT-I in its references to mislead the Board. This needs to be viewed seriously. Permitting carryover storage to erstwhile AP is part of Scheme-A of allocation made by KWDT-I, in- lieu of its larger difficulties in 25 per cent of deficit years, where there is no deficit sharing.

This is the essence of KWDT-I decision and unique feature which does not find in other water dispute tribunal awards. Erstwhile AP vehemently opposed Scheme-B, providing for deficit sharing and proportionate sharing, before KWDT-I and is now opposing to implement provisions of Scheme-A.

As per Section 85 of Andhra Pradesh Reorganisation Act (APRA), the KRMB has to regulate the Krishna waters as per Tribunal Awards and interstate agreements. The provision of KWDT-I is so clear that it does not require any clarification. Hence, KRMB is requested not to account for water carried over from previous year to the next year, else it will result as double accounting.
Telangana is therefore entitled to carry over water as per its share.

Regulation of surplus water during monsoon period spilling from the main stem projects on Krishna.

The conclusion on this item read as, “It was decided that the data of all the waters diverted during surplus period should be recorded and account should be maintained.”

To be modified as

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“It was decided that the data of all the waters diverted during surplus period should be recorded and accounted against the shares of States concerned.”

Appraisal and approval of new projects

With respect to the above agenda item “Special Chief Secretary, TS stated that the three projects namely, Srisailam Left Bank Canal (SLBC), Mahatma Gandhi Kalwakurthy lift irrigation scheme (MGKLIS) and Nettampadu Lift Irrigation Scheme (NLIS) are in-basin and flood-based projects.
As no water allocation is given to these projects, they are not able to get hydrological clearances and are not able to submit the DPRS”

Views/observations:

Telangana is seeking allocation of Krishna waters to the SLBC, MGKLIS, NLIS, Palamuru Rangareddy Lift Irrigation Scheme and Dindi Lift Irrigation Scheme projects out of 75 per cent dependable flows before KWDT-II under Section-89 proceedings and as such Telangana shall be permitted to proceed with construction of these projects which are taken up as per the liberty granted by KWDT-I to use surplus water and use Krishna waters subject to final decision of tribunal. The DPRs of these projects will be submitted to CWC after KWDT-Il decision is rendered.

KRMB notifies norms for security, salaries

The Krishna River Management Board (KRMB) has said the State security arrangements for irrigation projects, wherever applicable, may be continued till the deployment of Central Industrial Security Force (CISF).

This arrangement is applicable for a transition period not exceeding three months, said a board member, who briefed the Board on the other in-progress activities of the sub-committee including development of administrative system of KRMB, cost-sharing and accounting procedure, system of financial powers and contract procedures, and draft rule curves and operation protocols for the main stem reservoirs.

The system of administration, regulation, operation and maintenance as prevailing might be continued and for transition period not exceeding three months, the disbursement of salaries and allowance, payments for contract and outsourced staff along with settlement of bills for running contracts may be continued by the States.

After detailed discussion on the prioritised implementation of the notification, the board approved the recommendations of the sub-committee regarding road map for prioritised implementation of the notification incorporating 15 prioritised components of Srisailam and Nagarjunasagar projects.

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