: Minister for Irrigation and Water Resources Devineni Umamaheswara Rao said the Krishna River Board (KRB) issued instructions for releasing 8 tmcft of water from the Nagarjunasagar (NSP) and Srisailam dams to quench the thirst of people of West Godavari, Krishna, Guntur and Prakasam districts.
Water level in the River Krishna touched the ebb like never before, at just 3.9 feet but it would go up to 14 feet once water is released from the above projects.
Speaking to media persons after inspecting Krishna Pushkaram-related works in the city on Monday, Mr. Umamaheswara Rao said the State government sought 4.5 tmcft from NSP and 3.5 tmcft from Srisailam for meeting the drinking water needs of one crore population in the four districts and the KRB has conceded its request.
Steps were being taken to fill tanks in upland areas like Jaggaiahpeta, Nandigama and Tiruvur and Avanigadda, Gudivada, Machilipatnam, Pedana and surrounding areas. Crops in nearly eight lakh acres could be protected by linking up the Godavari and Krishna rivers, the Minister observed.
Mr. Umamaheswara Rao said the officials concerned were ordered to take steps for tiding over the crisis till the arrival of monsoon and that he was personally monitoring the situation.
Engineer-in-chief (Irrigation) Venkateswara Rao, chief engineers Y.S. Sudhakar and C. Ramakrishna and M.A. Shukoor (VMC) were among those present.
