CWC directive on more water to Krishna delta kicks up storm

• T govt peeved that depleting levels in Krishna river not taken into consideration
  
• Release of water may affect supply of drinking water to Hyderabad
  
• KCR convenes emergency meeting today to discuss implications

Hyderabad: The directive of the Central Water Commission (CWC) to Telangana government to release water to Krishna delta for one more week has given rise to a new controversy.

Opposing the move, the Telangana government on Tuesday registered a strong protest with the CWC chairman A B Pandya. The Minister for Irrigation T Harish Rao called Pandya on phone and objected to the "unilateral decision" taken by the CWC. On the other hand, the Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar decided to convene an emergency meeting with Ministers and Irrigation department officials on Wednesday to discuss about implications of CWC decision.

The TRS government is peeved at the CWC not giving any positive response to the protest launched by the Minister for Irrigation. It is felt that further release of water from Nagarjuna Sagar would create problems for the Telangana State in view of lack of rainfall. It could even affect supply of drinking water for Hyderabad city, the officials feel.

It may be mentioned here that Telangana government released 3.5 TMC of water to Krishna Delta after directions from CWC last week. The decision of the CWC came at a time when officials are making arrangements to close gates of Nagarjuna Sagar dam at 7 pm Tuesday. The CWC said they had taken the decision since the 3.5 TMC of water released by the T government had not reached Prakasam barrage in full and could not solve the drinking water crisis of Krishna delta. Since water management comes under the purview of the Krishna Water Board, officials say that the decision of the board was final.