Krishna water-sharing deadlock persists as KRMB panel fails to break impasse
KRMB's three-member panel fails to resolve Krishna water-sharing deadlock; AP insists on 66:34, Telangana demands 50% share.
A three-member committee of the Krishna River Management Board (KRMB) failed to resolve the ongoing deadlock over water-sharing for 2026-27 during a meeting in Hyderabad on Friday. The panel, comprising the board's Member-Secretary and the Engineers-in-Chief of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana, could not bridge the gap between the two states' entrenched positions.
Andhra Pradesh continues to push for the ad hoc 66:34 sharing arrangement (in its favour) that has been in place since 2015-16. Telangana, however, has maintained its demand for an equal 50% share since 2020. With two successive meetings ending in a stalemate, officials have scheduled another round of talks for the fourth week of this month.
Official sources indicate the KRMB is now planning a full-fledged meeting involving the secretaries of both state governments, the board chairman, and Engineers-in-Chief to resolve the impasse. The move comes amid mutual accusations that both states are drawing water from the common Srisailam and Nagarjunasagar reservoirs without board approval.
Following the committee's August 24 meeting, Andhra Pradesh unilaterally began drawing water from the Nagarjunasagar Right Canal, a move opposed by Telangana, which manages that project. Telangana later released water to the Left Canal the same evening. Both states have sought 47 tmc ft each for drinking water needs until October-end, given poor inflows.
As of September 4 morning, Srisailam had received 213.6 tmc ft of water since June 1, while Nagarjunasagar received 93.1 tmc ft, including releases from Srisailam with hydro-electric generation.
AP's Engineer-in-Chief K. Narasimha Murthy alleged that Telangana was generating hydel power unnecessarily, affecting AP's drawals. Telangana's ENC O.V. Ramesh Babu countered that the 66:34 ratio was unacceptable and pointed to AP's substantial drawals through the Pothireddypadu Head Regulator and other lift schemes, noting AP had already used 20 tmc ft against an agreed 22 tmc ft limit.