The Telangana government, which has objected to the plans of A.P. to divert 8 tmcft water per day from Srisailam without allegedly obtaining the approval of the Apex Council and the Krishna River Management Board (KRMB), has explained the “injustice planned to be heaped by A.P. on it (Telangana)” to the KRMB.
Principal Secretary (Irrigation) Rajat Kumar met KRMB Chairman J. Chandrashekhar Iyer on Wednesday, and described in detail the injustice likely to be done by A.P. to Telangana with its plans to divert huge quantity of Krishna water without approval.
Mr. Kumar said Telangana had been requesting the board to set up the telemetry equipment to account for water drawals by A.P. from the Pothireddypadu system, but it remained unheeded. He was understood to have pointed out that the sharing ratio of 512:299 tmcft by A.P. and Telangana was only a temporary arrangement, and that Telangana had already been arguing for higher allocation before the Brijesh Kumar Tribunal.
Mr. Kumar explained that the catchment area of the Krishna in Telangana was much higher compared to A.P. and natural justice would be to allocate more water, at least 575 tmcft, to it on that account, as was being done in the case of the upper riparian States of Karnataka and Maharashtra.
He told the KRMB Chairman that the basin areas in Telangana would suffer badly, both in terms of drinking water and irrigation, if A.P. went ahead with its plans to divert water to outside the basin at the cost of basin habitants. Irrigation officials said Mr. Kumar requested the KRMB to restrain A.P. from taking up new project before settling the disputes.
