The Andhra Pradesh government is ready to take up issues related to release of water with the Krishna Water Board (which is yet to be formed in full scale by the Centre) if required, Irrigation Minister Devineni Umamaheswara Rao has said.
Issues pertaining to water allocations to both Telangana and Andhra Pradesh will be dealt by an interim committee until the Board is formed.
Addressing a media conference here on Saturday, Mr. Umamaheswara Rao said that the State government had to release water for kharif crop in the Krishna delta. Water would be released depending on the available water levels at the major reservoirs such as Almati, Jurala, Srisailam and Nagarjunasagar, the Minister said.
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“It will be discussed with the officials of both States for early release of water,” he said.
Referring to the imposed power cuts, the Minister said that the State was reeling under severe power crisis owing to the poor allocations to it. “Unfortunately, power consumption was taken into consideration while allocating power to both the States. There is an acute shortage of coal,” he said, adding that the government had already asked the officials to buy coal and step up power generation at the Vijayawada Thermal Power Station (VTPS).
Pulicihintala visitADVERTISEMENT
Mr. Rao further said that he would visit Pulichintala project on June 15 (Sunday) and Polavaram on June 16 (Monday) to inspect the ongoing works there. Meanwhile, Krishna district Telugu Rythu president Chalasani Anjaneyulu asked the members of the Telugu Rythu to accompany their leader to the project.