The Krishna River Management Board has directed Telangana State to use only 3 TMC ft of water from Srisailam reservoir for power generation till Sunday.
This direction came from the Board on Friday, after it heard the contentious arguments of Telangana and Andhra Pradesh which locked themselves in what is turning out to be an intractable tussle.
Reminding both the States on the need to adhere to the existing protocols with mutual cooperation, till existing rules were updated after a careful study and analysis of data regarding crop water management and other water usage, the Board said it would review the matter, if required, after November 15.
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The use of 3 TMC ft of water till Sunday was an option that was suggested in the full board meeting on Thursday, but Telangana had out rightly rejected the proposal.
In the order issued today, the Board maintained that it was Telangana officials who stated that the requirement for power generation at Srisailam would come down by November 2 as power demand will get reduced considerably and that they would start operating Nagarjunasagar hydel station. The officials were further quoted as going on record that “the need of generating power at Srisailam may not arise thereafter for some period”.
In the two-day hearing of arguments before the board in Hyderabad on Wednesday and Thursday, AP wanted the water level to be maintained at 854 ft, while Telangana argued that it was entitled to generate power till the water level reached 834 ft. Andhra Pradesh expressed apprehensions about a drinking water crisis if water levels got depleted now.
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Telangana, however, argued that use of water from Srisailam to generate power must be construed as water being used for irrigation purpose only as Telangana farmers were utilising the power to draw water to irrigate their lands. The other argument was that since Andhra Pradesh was not providing the due share of power to Telangana.