Telangana asks KRMB to restrain Andhra from diverting water from Srisailam reservoir
Telangana government on Thursday requested Krishna River Management Board (KRMB) to restrain Andhra Pradesh government from diverting water from the foreshore of Srisailam reservoir through three unauthorized projects to KC Canal.
By Newsmeter Network Published on 13 Aug 2021 4:21 AM GMT
Hyderabad: Telangana government on Thursday requested Krishna River Management Board (KRMB) to restrain Andhra Pradesh government from diverting water from the foreshore of Srisailam reservoir through three unauthorized projects to KC Canal.
In his letter to KRMB Chairman MP Singh, Telangana Engineer-in-Chief C. Muralidhar said three additional sources including KC canal lift irrigation scheme at Muchumarri, link canal connecting Handri Neeva Sujala Sravanthi lift irrigation scheme (HNSS LIS) at Malayala with KC Canal, Escape channel from Banakacherla Cross Regulator for feeding the KC Canal Ayacut are illegal and cannot be permitted.
"KC Canal was originally conceived as a navigation canal from Tungabhadra River at Sunkesula Anicut in 19th century and later irrigation component was added. In 1860, the Government of Hyderabad state gave conditional permission to Madras state to construct Sunkesula anicut to feed KC Canal stipulating that there would not be any objection from them when Hyderabad state draws water for its use," Muralidhar said in the letter.
He said as AP has been utilizing much more water to this project than allocated 31.90 tmcft and diverting to outside the basin will adversely impact many Telangana irrigation projects and Srisailam depending projects like Nagarjuna Sagar and drinking water supply to Hyderabad city.
He said Krishna Water Dispute Tribunal (KWDT)-I imposed restrictions on utilization of water in Tungabhadra sub-basin and said that the Tungabhadra (TB) River would contribute substantial flows to the mainstream Krishna.
Contrary to the spirit of KWDT-I, the AP while drawing excess water from TB have made additional arrangements to draw water from Srisailm reservoir and this action is in complete violation of provisions of KWDT-I, the Chief Engineer said.
He said the operation of three unauthorized projects in addition to existing excess utilization under KC canal from TB stem, has already affected the water availability to several projects including Nagarjunasagar and Hyderabad Water Supply.
Since Andhra Pradesh is envisaging to divert water from the bottom of Srisailm reservoir (+798 ft ), it will adversely affect drinking water supply to Hyderabad city, he added.
