Revanth’s SOS to DKS for release of water to Jurala

Hyderabad: Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy and Irrigation and Civil Supplies Minister N Uttam Kumar Reddy requested the Karnataka government for release of water from the Upper Krishna river system to help save standing crops facing water stress in the erstwhile Mahbubnagar district.

Following a dharna by the farmers of the erstwhile Mahbubnagar district and the Opposition BRS and BJP, the Chief minister deputed a delegation, led by Excise and Prohibition Minister Jupally Krishna Rao and Animal Husbandry Minister V Srihari, to Karnataka to meet Chief Minister DK Shiva Kumar and mitigate irrigation crisis in his home district.

Accordingly, the ministers’ delegation along with MLAs of the Mahbubnagar district met Karnataka Chief Minister in Bengaluru and sought release of water from Almatti and Narayanpur dams to the Jurala project.

The Telangana delegation brought to Shivakumar’s attention the urgent need to release Krishna waters from Karnataka to save crops under Jurala, Bhima, Nettempadu, and Koilsagar ayacut areas. The delegation of ministers appealed to the Karnataka Chief Minister to release 5,000 cusecs of water from Krishna continuously for a period of one month to safeguard the standing crops.

The Karnataka Chief Minister responded positively to the ministers’ appeal and assured the delegation that measures would be taken to protect the farmers of Telangana. Earlier, Uttam Kumar Reddy said Telangana had taken up the matter with the Karnataka Chief Minister in view of the difficult water situation in the Krishna basin. He said Karnataka was requested to release water from the Narayanpur reservoir so that additional inflows could reach Jurala and provide relief to the farmers whose standing crops were under stress.

“We have explained the dire situation being faced by the farmers in the Mahbubnagar district and requested the neighbouring state to release water to save the standing crops. They have said that they will examine the availability and get back to us,” the Minister said, adding that the TG government was making every possible effort to protect standing crops, while at the same time ensuring adequate reserves for drinking water requirements during the months ahead. He pointed out that the present situation required careful management of the limited water available in the reservoirs.

Any releases for irrigation, he said, had to be calibrated keeping in view the need to maintain drinking water scarcity if the present dry conditions prevailed in the coming months. Uttam said the present crisis also underlined the importance of creating adequate storage infrastructure in the upper reaches of the Krishna within Telangana.

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The Hans India