Release of Sagar water sought

Created On: 21 Feb 2026 9:42 AM IST

Vijayawada: The Nagarjunasagar Left Canal Project Committee has urged Minister for Water Resources Dr Nimmala Ramanaidu to take immediate steps to secure the release of Sagar waters from Telangana to protect standing crops in the second and third zones of the Left Canal ayacut in Andhra Pradesh. A delegation led by Project Committee Chairman Kota Veerababu and Vice-Chairman Alla Venkata Gopala Krishna Rao met the Minister at his camp office on MG Road here on Friday and submitted a detailed memorandum outlining the issues faced by farmers.

They explained that farmers in the third zone, covering parts of Nuzvid, Gannavaram, Mylavaram, Tiruvuru and Nandigama constituencies in the erstwhile Krishna district, had cultivated maize, chilli and other dry crops over nearly 80,000 acres, depending on Sagar waters this season. Although the Krishna River Management Board (KRMB) had issued release orders from January, the Telangana government has not released adequate water so far, they alleged. Against an allocation of 14 TMC for the third zone, only about 3 TMC has been received, leading to severe water scarcity, drying crops and depleting groundwater levels. The committee requested that 1,800 cusecs of water be released continuously for 15 days up to the Andhra Pradesh border (101 km point) to safeguard crops.

The delegation also sought full water supply to Madira, Bonakal and DVR branch canals in the second zone to protect paddy crops. They requested permission to fill vacant lascar posts on an outsourcing basis, as only 42 personnel are currently working against 273 sanctioned posts. They further appealed for grants to clear pending O&M works undertaken by water user associations this season. Responding to the representation, Minister Ramanaidu assured that senior officials of the State Water Resources Department would immediately take up the matter with their Telangana counterparts to facilitate the release of water to the Left Canal.

Distributary Committee G Prasad, K Koteswara Rao, Ch Subhash, E Gopala Rao, R Chandrasekhar, E Shobhan Babu, K Hanumantha Rao, Ummadi Venkata Swamy, Devineni Satyanarayana, Pamarthi Srinivasa Rao, R Balakrishna, and others were also present.

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