Krishna Board Tells Telangana to Stop Srisailam Power Drawals
KRMB directs Telangana to stop using Srisailam water for power, citing drinking water needs; Telangana disputes board's stance.
The Krishna River Management Board (KRMB) has directed the Telangana government to cease drawing water from the Srisailam reservoir for hydro-electric generation, warning that continued use could jeopardize drinking water supplies in the coming months as storage levels deplete rapidly.
The directive, issued to the state's Irrigation Secretary, follows a meeting of the board's three-member committee on Friday that failed to resolve the ongoing dispute over water sharing during the current lean water year. The board's communication came after Andhra Pradesh flagged what it described as excessive water withdrawal by Telangana's power generation corporation (TG-Genco) for electricity production.
Citing the XI Schedule of the Andhra Pradesh Reorganisation Act, the KRMB emphasized that when irrigation and power needs conflict, irrigation takes precedence; and when irrigation and drinking water needs conflict, drinking water must be prioritized. The board stressed the urgency of conserving water to safeguard drinking water requirements.
A senior engineer in Telangana's Irrigation Department said the state had not yet decided on the board's communication. However, the official accused the KRMB of bias, noting that the board had ignored substantial withdrawals by Andhra Pradesh from Srisailam through various projects, including the Pothireddypadu Head Regulator, the Handri-Neeva lift, and the KC Canal supplementation lift at Malyala, as well as the Veligonda project. The engineer also pointed to Andhra Pradesh's unilateral release of water for the Nagarjunasagar Right Canal since late August, which he said forced Telangana to draw from the Left Canal.
As of Saturday, Andhra Pradesh was officially drawing about 15,355 cusecs (nearly 1.5 tmc ft per day) from Srisailam, compared to Telangana's 2,400 cusecs via the Kalwakurthy lift.
Separately, Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) working president K.T. Rama Rao criticized the board's letter, calling it evidence of the state government's failure to protect Telangana's water rights. He questioned whether the XI Schedule provisions apply only to Telangana, demanding answers from both the government and the river board.