Hyderabad: State irrigation Officials staged a protest at Krishna River Management Board (KRMB) against the Andhra Pradesh government for skipping a crucial meeting called by the Board to finalise water allocation for drinking water irrigation needs for two states in the summer. Succumbing to pressure, the Board called a meeting with two Telugu states of Andhra and Telangana on Monday.

State Secretary to irrigation Rahul Bojja and Engineer in chief (ENC-General) Anil Kumar expressed strong reservation over the absence of Andhra Pradesh in the meeting at the last minute before the Krishna Board. The officials also explained to the Board how the Andhra government was drawing excess water even after the Board warned several times and no action was taken yet.

The Telangana officials demanded for stoppage of all drawals by the AP from common reservoirs of Srisailam and Nagarjuna Sagar with immediate effect.

They said, “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 water from the reservoirs.”

Further, the officials submitted indent for drinking and irrigation needs till May. The government was demanding the allocation of 107 tmcft of water and requested the Board chairman to issue a water release order accordingly. It requires 90 tmcft of water for irrigation and 17 tmcft of water for drinking water needs during summer.

Earlier, a group of irrigation officials met Central Water Commission (CWC) Chairman Mukesh Kumar Sinha and apprised him of the current water crisis in the Telangana state.

Following the AP’s last minute decision to stay away from the KRMB meeting, Irrigation officials explained to the CWC how AP was avoiding meetings to sort out the water issues during the summer season.