The anxious wait of people of the Krishna delta, that spans Prakasam, Guntur, Krishna and West Godavari districts, for release of water from the Nagarjunasagar project notwithstanding, the authorities are releasing between 1,000 and 1,800 cusecs of water everyday from the reservoir to fill drinking water and irrigation tanks in Telangana.
According to data in the Reservoir Storage Monitoring System, 1,800 cusecs was being drawn by the Alimineti Madhava Reddy (lift irrigation) Project (AMRP) from the NSP from June 8. The AMRP lift irrigation scheme began drawing water from June 1 from Puttamgandi, the foreshore of the Nagarjuna Sagar reservoir. Beginning with a little over 1,000 cusecs, the LI scheme has gradually increased drawal to 1,800 cusecs.
The Reservoir Storage Monitoring System website created by the Centre for Good Governance is maintained by data provided by the monitoring stations of the Central Water Commission (CWC) and the State Irrigation Department. The NSP had 15 tmcft available for irrigation on June 1, but the amount of water available on Wednesday is 14 tmcft.
Meanwhile, farmers in Krishna delta are expressing concern over the delay in release of water.
Kisan Services Association Krishna district general secretary P.S.R. Das said unless water was released for delta farmers on June 1 to raise seed beds, saplings would not be strong enough to tolerate the rainfall in August and September.
