Retired Engineers of Andhra Pradesh who have been closely watching the developments in the irrigation sector after bifurcation have expressed concerns over many issues discussed during the meetings of the management boards of the Krishna and the Godavari held on June 4 and 5 respectively.
Even as the a spectrum of old contentious topics were discussed threadbare, several new issues also surfaced on which the retired engineers have reservations.
Members representing Telangana made use of this forums to reiterate that denial of the rightful amount of water to the Telangana regions was the main reason behind the State bifurcation.
During the Krishna River Management Board (KRMB) meeting, little or no objection was raised to the 50:50 sharing of the water for power generation during 2019-21. The proposal made by the KRMB was supported by Telangana while the A.P. representatives remained mute spectators.
According to the data presented, A.P. generated more power than Telangana during 2015-16 and 2016-17 fiscals, while Telangana surpassed A.P. during 2014-15, 2017-18, 2018-19 and 2019-20 fiscals.
The main issue, according to the retired engineers, was that the left side power house was just a pumping storage scheme, and it should not be treated on par with the “regular power generation” unit on the right side (A.P.).
Peak-hour usage
Only Telangana had the facility to generate power during the peak hours and pump up the used water from the tail pond to the main reservoir during non-peak hours. There was no logic in the State claiming 50% of the water in the reservoir for power generation, the engineers pointed out.
The KRMB chairman said that the power generation was incidental and that drawing of water for irrigation and drinking purposes was primary. The two States should also keep in view the requirements of the Nagarjuna Sagar Project.
Tribunal award
During the Godavari board meeting, the engineers wondered how Telangana came up with the figure of 967.14 tmcft as its quota as it was never mentioned in the Godavari River Tribunal Award.
They said that Telangana had arrived at the figure by calculating the requirement of the projects it was planning. “This is not the way river water is shared. The Central Water Commission (CWC) has approved the Polavaram Project and no water would trickle down to the dam in a lean year. The AP representatives should be wary of the aggressive stance of Telangana,” they said.
