Telangana seeks accounting of surplus water in projects under Krishna River basin

Hyderabad: Telangana demanded that every drop of the surplus (spilling condition) water in projects under Krishna River basin should be accounted for under the Andhra Pradesh share which has a better capacity to divert water than Telangana and store it outside the basin. It has contended that unless the surplus water being diverted outside the basin is counted, Andhra Pradesh will ask for more water from the common storages which are the only source for Telangana.

The third Reservoir Management Committee (RMC) meeting of Krishna River Management Board (KRMB) was chaired by KRMB member Ravi Kumar Pillai at Jala Soudha here on Friday.

Telangana Engineer-in-Chief Muralidhar argued at the length urging the Committee to safeguard the interest of Telangana. After his Andhra Pradesh counterpart Narayana Reddy urged the Committee not to consider the request, the proceedings were recorded and the issue was posted for the next meeting. Telangana has decided to write to the KRMB about its contentions on the issue.

Further, the RMC meeting also discussed about the rule curves in order to fix water levels in the Srisailam project. Telangana argued that the matter was subjudice before Krishna Water Disputes Tribunal-II (KWDT-II) and hence, fixing the rule curves must be subject to the Tribunal’s decision. From the Srisailam project, only 34 TMC can be allowed and surplus water use by the states will be on mutual consent only.

Further, Telangana also informed that issues like utilising services of pumped storage of Left Bank Pump House (LBPH) by Andhra Pradeshm, are subject to the decision of Telangana government. The RMC accepted that the rule curves are subject to Tribunal award and posted the issue for discussion during next meeting.