Telangana, Andhra fight over amount of water released from Nagarjuna Sagar
- The KRMB had deemed that 17 tmc ft of water was to be released to Andhra Pradesh side and this was not followed
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Both states want the water and neither Telangana, nor Andhra is willing to accept the share allotted
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The water battle is an old one. However, what was once an inter-district clash is now an inter-state problem, since Telangana was formed in 2014.
Most water-sharing troubles between the states revolve around two rivers: the Krishna and the Godavari. It is because of the layout of the land. While Telangana is located upstream and has access to both, it is unable to do so and is now struggling from two years of successive drought. Parts of Andhra, such as Rayalaseema, also face a similar shortage because the state is located downstream, and therefore has access to these rivers as well. Both want the water and neither is willing to accept the share allotted.
Sometimes AP wants to stop the irrigation projects taking place on parts of Godavari and Krishna that fall in Telangana and sometimes it is the other way around, both cite bifurcation rules.
Now the water dispute, which never seems end, has zeroed in on who gets the Nagarjuna Sagar (NS) dam water and how much. According to a report in a publication Telangana officials decreased the water from Nagarjuna Sagar dam to its Right Bank Canal (RBC) on Tuesday claiming that the share of Andhra Pradesh under the Krishna River Water Management Board (KRMB) has already been released. NS RBC irrigation officials of Andhra Pradesh immediately refuted the claims. The Right Bank Canal provides water for drinking and irrigation in Guntur and Prakasam districts, which fall in Andhra Pradesh.
The KRMB had deemed that 17 tmc ft of water was to be released to Right Branch canal by the NS Dam officials, the NS RBC officials are claiming only 13 tmc ft has been released as against the 17 tmc ft. The Andhra Pradesh side claims that the two states had an agreement wherein 2 tmc ft would be considered as evaporation loss, the Telangana side, according to them is considering the 1 tmc ft as the same. However, the problem was solved later on when the Telangana side agreed to release 1 tmc ft of the water to Andhra Pradesh.
Earlier in February, at a meeting of the A K Bajaj Committee, on the Godavari-Krishna water dispute, K Chandrasekhara Rao has been quoted by the same publication as seeming to extend an olive branch to AP. The Telangana CM is supposed to have said that “It is meaningless to fight over water. Our aim is to protect the interests of Telangana farmers. It does not mean that the farmers in the neighbouring state should suffer. We have adopted a live and let live policy.”
However, that sentiment does not seem to echoed here in this instance.
