Andhra to temporarily stop water release from Nagarjunasagar dam

Amaravati, Dec 2 (PTI) The Andhra Pradesh government on Saturday agreed to temporarily stop the release of water from the Nagarjunasagar Project (NSP) as a goodwill gesture following a meeting convened by the Union Ministry of Jal Shakti between the state and Telangana, said an official.

The state government took this decision after a request by Debashree Mukherjee, Secretary, Department of Water Resources, River Development & Ganga Rejuvenation, said the official. She chaired the meeting from Delhi.

Speaking to PTI, Andhra Pradesh Irrigation Engineer-in-Chief (EIC) C Narayana Reddy said: "However, whether the state will permanently cease the release of water is contingent to a favourable outcome from the Krishna River Management Board's (KRMB) decision on the 5 TMC water indent it raised on Saturday in the meeting convened by Mukherjee." If KRMB declines the crucial request made to meet the drinking water exigencies on December 6, the Andhra Pradesh will go ahead and release water, he said.

Andhra Pradesh today placed the indent for release of 5 TMC water from its allocated share of Krishna river waters through the right main canal of NSP to meet drinking water needs.

After the key meeting, the state government said it will continue to deploy police forces on its side of the Nagarjunasagar dam until a decision is taken to implement the notification of the Government of India on the jurisdiction of KRMB.

The state government issued a statement to this effect after the meeting, which was attended by Chief Secretary K S Jawahar Reddy and other officials. Reddy's Telangana counterpart, however, was absent.

"Reddy explained in detail about the continued indiscriminate use of water at Srisailam Project for power production by Telangana and collecting the same at NSP so as to maintain complete control of water releases from it on both sides to their advantage, denying the legitimate agreed share of water to Andhra Pradesh," said the statement.

The Chief Secretary explained that an alleged historic injustice was meted out to Andhra Pradesh as the Srisailam Project's left bank facilities' control is taken over by Telangana, though that project was supposed to be under the control of chief engineer, Kurnool in Andhra Pradesh.

The Andhra Pradesh officials also alleged that all the installations on the right bank of NSP, located in its territory, were also taken over by Telangana. They said that they are being compelled to request Telangana to release its own water through NSP right main canal which caters to the exclusive needs of Andhra Pradesh.

"The Chief Secretary explained malafide intentions of Telangana to draw water exclusively for power generation through the left power house of Srisailam without proper indent and release orders, in order to store the same in NSP," said the statement.

According to the Andhra Pradesh government, Telangana has taken full control and deprived the required buildup of water in Srisailam for the former to draw.

Reddy also informed the Ministry of Jal Shakti that Andhra Pradesh has taken over the facilities located in its territory on the right bank and assured that it will operate them as per KRMB orders.

He added that Andhra Pradesh had also issued orders expressing its willingness to handover the control of its installations to KRMB but Telangana was yet to do the same.

Meanwhile, 2,000 Andhra Pradesh police personnel continue to man the Nagarjunasagar dam from the state's side while intense parleys are underway to defuse tensions with Telangana.

Gurajala sub-divisional police officer A Pallapu Raju told PTI that five checkposts continue to be operated by police on the Andhra Pradesh side.

"Though 90 CRPF personnel arrived at the dam, we did not receive orders from the state government to handover control to them," said Raju. He said Andhra Pradesh is controlling spillway gates from number 14 to 26.

On Friday, Andhra Pradesh Irrigation Minister A Rambabu said the state government took rightful control of the Nagarjunasagar dam till the 13th gate from its side with the help of police.

He said this move by Andhra Pradesh is justified as it is entitled to 66 per cent of Krishna river waters and Telangana 34 per cent as part of the Andhra Pradesh Reorganisation Act, 2014. PTI