TS seeks omission of 7 NS Left Canal components from KRMB Sch-2

Erstwhile AP extended NSLC ayacut in Andhra from 1.3L to 3.78L acres

October 26, 2021 10:45 pm | Updated 10:45 pm IST - HYDERABAD

Telangana government has sought more changes in the purview of Krishna River Management Board (KRMB), which is yet to be implemented although the appointed day was October 14, this time seeking omission of seven components of Nagarjunasagar (NS) Left Canal from Schedule-2 of the gazette notification till the finalisation of KWDT-II award.

In a letters addressed to Chairman of the river board M.P. Singh, Engineer-in-Chief of Telangana C. Muralidhar has also urged the board to restrict water utilisation up to Kattaleru river as per Joint Project Report 1954 and to irrigate the areas covered by the seven components through alternate sources such as Chintalapudi lift irrigation scheme.

The seven components whose omission has been sought by Telangana from Schedule-2 of the gazette notification are off-takes of 16 and 17th branch canals, Managapuram major, Bonakal branch canal, Madhira branch canal and 21st main branch canal from NS Left Canal and Tiruvuru major and Kakarla major from 21st main branch canal.

The Telangana ENC brought to the KRMB Chairman’s notice that NS Left Canal has been modified by the erstwhile Andhra Pradesh government from time to time disregarding the Lower Krishna (Nandikonda) Project Report 1952 of the previous Hyderabad State and also the joint report of Hyderabad and Andhra States 1954 to the disadvantage of Telangana region.

The reports of 1952 and 1954 proposed extending some distributaries in the tail-end reaches of the Left Canal for conditional inclusion of 1.3 lakh acres in the areas situation between Hyderabad State boundary and Kattaleru stream in Nandigama Taluq of Madras State (later Andhra) for utilisation from the share allotted to Andhra. After reorganisation of States in 1956, the canal was extended to include 1.3 lakh acres of Andhra area without any agreement on cost or water cess.

In addition, the Left Canal was extended further from time to time by the successive AP governments beyond Kattaleru from 1.3 lakh acres to 3.78 lakh acres in utter disregard to the joint report of 1954. At the same time, the area in Telangana was reduced from 6.6 lakh acres to 6.02 lakh acres and about 1 lakh acres of it was brought under lift irrigation. Further, protection of 53,000 acres of ayacut under existing small tanks in Telangana with water from Left Canal was also not taken up.

Not only that but the erstwhile AP government had also modified the alignment of NS Left Canal by lowering the sill level at Paleru reservoir resulting in total loss of 13 ft of head, causing considerable reduction in the planned ayacut in Telangana region, Mr. Muralidhar pointed out. The consumptive use of NS was restricted by erstwhile AP to only 264 tmc ft was Karnataka and Maharashtra strongly opposed diversion of Krishna water to outside basin areas before KWDT-I.

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