The Krishna River Management Board failed to resolve the contentious issue of hydel power generation at Srisailam for the second consecutive day on Thursday as both Andhra Pradesh and Telangana governments refused to relent.
As there was no headway by the working group of the board on Wednesday evening, a meeting of the full board was held at “Jalasoudha”, headquarters of irrigation department, again on Thursday under the chairmanship of S.K.G Pandit, but there was no progress.
Mr. Pandit, therefore, asked the Principal Secretaries of irrigation of both States who were also present to sort it out between themselves and communicate their views to the board on Friday morning. The board will then convey its decision.
After the three-hour meeting, Mr. Pandit rushed to New Delhi to brief the Centre about the deliberations.
In the meantime, the Telangana government seemed to have surmised that the board’s decision would go against it and threatened to ignore it. Irrigation Advisor to Government R. Vidyasagar Rao asserted that there was no question of Telangana stopping power generation on Srisailam left bank canal till the minimum draw down level touched 834 ft. It was the right of the State as per a 1996 government order.
The Andhra Pradesh government wanted Telangana to follow the revised GO of 2004 that restricted the MDDL to 854 ft. It protested that there was no rule allowing generation up to 834 ft.
The water level at the project on Thursday was 857.8 ft and storage 102.1 tmcft. The power house operated all six units (125 MW each) at one stage, discharging 45,000 cusecs of water.
Sources said officials of AP argued that the board should take a decision immediately and ask Telangana to stop generation at 854 ft level as any delay would affect wetting of the standing crop. But Telangana raised objection to “artificial restrictions” imposed on it as there were several occasions in the last two to three decades when the reservoir was emptied.
“Unless new protocols were worked out and accepted by the board, there was no sanctity to the limits drawn. Moreover, Srisailam was basically a hydro-electric project and irrigation was only a subsequent addition”.
Interestingly, both sides declared their intention to move the Apex Council constituted under the State Reorganisation Act if the decision of the board went against either of them. The Council is headed by Union Water Resources Ministers and has Chief Ministers of both States as members.
