The Working Group of Krishna River Management Board (KRMB) has decided to allow the two lower riparian Telugu-speaking States of the Krishna Basin to avail 25 TMC ft water, including the quantity that has already been drawn, for the immediate drinking needs.
Chaired by Member-Secretary of the board Samir Chatterjee, the meeting held here on Friday was attended by engineers-in-chief C. Muralidhar (Telangana) and M. Venkateswara Rao (Andhra Pradesh). Discussions were held only on the immediate water needs of the two States. It was decided to have the full-fledged meeting of the board in the second week of October to take up the issue of allotment of water for the current year that extends till May 2018.
Mutual complaint
According to official sources, as usual the meeting commenced with the two States complaining against each other on the drawing of water without taking the consent of the board or even informing it. They even asked the board to act against such ‘unilateral’ decision of the other State in drawing water.
“Yes, it’s a serious issue as the two States resort to release of water on their own without even keeping the board in the loop. However, the board is in a helpless situation without having necessary powers,” Mr. Chatterjee said after the meeting. The issue would be taken up at the next full-fledged meeting of the board and if the two States fail to come at an understanding on water releases and allotment for the year, the board would have no other option but to take it to the Centre’s (Union Ministry of Water Resources) notice, he stated.
Joint projects
Stating that the board had been asking the two States to bring the joint projects under its control so that the water management could be done effectively, the Member-Secretary of the river board constituted under the provisions of AP Reorganisation Act said, “in the absence of such arrangement it will be difficult for the agency to prevent disputes on water drawing”.
The two States have, however, agreed to maintain minimum draw down levels (MDDL) of water both in Srisailam and Nagarjunasagar reservoirs at 854 feet and 510 feet, respectively. The chief engineers of the two projects have been told to report the water releases to the board as a joint statement.
