Telangana Government has requested the Krishna River Management Board to rectify the disproportionate water drawal capacity of the Nagarjunasagar Right Canal and allow increase the vent way of the Left Canal so that both the canals could draw equal quantity of 11,000 cusecs at minimum drawdown level of the reservoir.
In a letter addressed to Chairman of the KRMB M.P. Singh, Engineer-in-Chief (General-Irrigation) of Telangana C. Muralidhar has also requested the river board to permit drawal of designed capacity of water at MDDL of the reservoir (+510 feet) by allowing provision of an additional vent way at the Left Canal head regulator.
Mr. Muralidhar explained to theKrishna River Management Board Chairman that the then Hyderabad State had finalised the Lower Krishna multi-purpose at Nandikonda in 1952 with a dam across the Krishna river along with a power house on its left side and also a left bank canal. The State Planning Commission had approved the proposal and submitted to the (Union) Planning Commission for its inclusion in the first five-year plan and for release of budget for 1952-53.
The Khosla Committee (1952) had rejected Krishna-Pennar Project (proposed for the Andhra region of the Madras State) and recommended addition of a canal on the right side of the Nandikonda project.
“It’s pertinent to mention here that in response to the Khosla Committee recommendations, the then Hyderabad State had asserted that in-basin utilisations be given preference while and only un-utilised water from Krishna be diverted to Madras”, the ENC explained in the letter to the KRMB Chairman on Wednesday.
“Unfortunately, though the sill level of both the Left Canal and Right Canal head regulators are same at +490 feet, the drawal capacity of Left canal at MDDL is 7,899 cusecs, while its 24,606 cusecs for the Right Canal or Telangana and Andhra Pradesh side, respectively, and are highly disproportionate”, the ENC said adding that the Right Canal could draw the required 11,000 cusecs at +500 feet level, whereas the Left Canal could draw the same quantity only at 520 feet level.
He requested the river board to modify the vent way of the Left Canal head regulator to draw 11,000 cusecs at MDDL and also reduce the vent way of Right Canal head regulator so that the maximum discharge was only 11,000 cusecs at MDDL instead of its existing capacity to draw 24,606 cusecs.
