Telangana has urged the Krishna River Management Board (KRMB) to stop Andhra Pradesh from drawing water from the Srisailam and Nagarjuna Sagar reservoirs.
Stating that Andhra Pradesh has already drawn more water from the Krishna River than it was allocated, the Telangana government has written to the KRMB to stop Andhra from drawing any more water.
With the KRMB postponing the special meeting scheduled on Friday, Telangana’s Principal Secretary, Irrigation & CAD Rahul Bojja, Engineer-in-Chief Anil Kumar and Nagarjuna Sagar Chief Engineer Ajay Kumar met KRMB Chairman Atul Jain to demand a stoppage of all draws by Andhra Pradesh from common reservoirs of Srisailam and Nagarjuna Sagar Project with immediate effect.
Bojja handed over a letter to the KRMB Chairman on behalf of the state government. “As on today, the AP state has already utilised far in excess of its entitlement as per the KRMB records and therefore the state cannot draw any waters from the common reservoirs,” it read.
He mentioned that an indent for drinking and irrigation needs till May 2025 was submitted for 107 TMC by Telangana and requested the KRMB Chairman to issue the water release order accordingly, emphasising the need to save the Rabi crops sown in 13 lakh acres of the Krishna basin and meet the drinking water needs of nearly two crore people across Hyderabad and the districts of Nalgonda, Mahbubnagar, and Khammam.
“In view of AP state seeking postponement of today’s meeting to 24th Feb, it is once again requested to ensure the stoppage of all drawls by AP from Srisailam and NSP until the matter is taken up in the upcoming meeting,” the letter added.
During the National Irrigation Ministers’ Conference held in Rajasthan recently, Telangana Irrigation Minister N. Uttam Kumar Reddy met Union Minister of Jal Shakti C.R. Patil and Secretary Debashree Mukherjee.
On Uttam Kumar Reddy’s request, the Central government had directed KRMB to convene a meeting to resolve the dispute. The Board convened a special meeting in Hyderabad on Friday and invited officials from both Telugu states to participate. However, officials from Andhra Pradesh did not attend the meeting.
Bojja reminded that since November 2024, Telangana’s Irrigation Department has been sending monthly complaints to the KRMB about Andhra Pradesh’s illegal water usage. Despite these complaints, the KRMB has ignored the issue, leading to the current complicated situation, he said.
He pointed out that Andhra Pradesh has already utilised 650 TMC of water, while Telangana has only used 225 TMC.
As per the agreement made between the two states post-bifurcation in 2014-15, the water-sharing ratio was set at 66:34. However, Andhra Pradesh is now violating this agreement, using water at a 75:25 ratio.
