The Andhra Pradesh government has sent an indent for 17 tmcft to the Krishna River Management Board (KRMB) to meet the drinking water needs of the Rayalaseema region, Prakasam, Guntur, Krishna districts and some areas in the Nagarjuna Sagar Project Command area.
Responding to A.P.’s request made on Monday, Member secretary of the board Harikesh Meena has convened a meeting of the three-member committee —one member from the board and the Engineers-in-chief of Telangana and A.P. — on Thursday.Principal Secretary for Water Resources Shashi Bhushan Kumar told The Hindu that the A.P. Engineer-in-Chief had written a letter to the board seeking release of water from the Srisailam reservoir to Handri Neeva Srujala Sravanthi (HNSS) , NS Right Canal, NS Left Canal and the Krishna delta system.
Requirement till May
The department sought release of 8 tmcft to NS Right Canal, 3.5 tmcft to the Krishna delta system, 3 tmcft to NS Left Main Canal and 2.5 tmcft to HNSS. This was the water requirement of the State until May.The indent letter mentioned that 34.53 tmcft was released to A.P. till March 6 and that the 17 tmcft was needed to fill drinking water tanks. The State has sought the permission of the board to release water available in the Srisailam reservoir below the Minimum Draw Down Level (MDDL) of 834 feet. The KRMB has in the past one month written three letters to both A.P. and Telangana States to give their respective indents for drinking water as the water level in the Srisailam reservoir fell below the power generation MDDL of 834 feet.
