Irrigation staff at loggerheads

Release of Krishna water for Rabi crops becomes the latest bone of contention between irrigation engineers of the two Telugu-speaking States

Hyderabad: Though worked together for years and executed several projects greening the rice fields on the left and right canals of the world’s largest masonry dam - Nagarjuna Sagar Dam – engineers in irrigation departments of both the Telugu-speaking States are now not willing to see eye-to-eye, thanks to the bifurcation of United Andhra Pradesh.

Speaking to The Hans India, senior officials from both Telangana and AP irrigation departments have expressed the view that some of the issues cropped up between the two States could have been sorted out across the table, but “it was the stand taken by the governments.”

Now the situation is such that if Telangana irrigation department wants to convey something to its counterpart in AP, it will have to write a letter to the Krishna River Management Board (KRMB). In turn, the letter will be forwarded to AP, which will respond to the letter again through the KRMB. The KRMB, which is a statutory body under the Andhra Pradesh Reorganisation Act, has become a letter sorting department between the two.

Latest flash point between the two departments is release of Krishna water to Rabi by Telangana. Telangana wants to release water for Rabi crops under Nagarjuna Sagar Left Canal (NSLC) to about 6.58 lakh acres in Nalgonda and Khammam districts. The NSLC would also provide water to about 3.83 lakh acres in Krishna and West Godavari districts.

A senior irrigation official of AP said there was no sufficient water to meet the demand till the completion of the Rabi crop.

However, the Telangana side refuted this claim saying that there was sufficient water to meet the Rabi demand of Nalgonda, Khammam and Krishna ayacut. And, if Telangana goes ahead with its stand on releasing water from NSLC, then it is expected to hit about 11.13 lakh acres of ayacut under the Nagarjuna Sagar Right Canal (NSRC), located in Guntur and Prakasam districts.

If AP too draws water from NSRC to provide water for Rabi under NSRC, then it would not be possible for both AP and TS to provide water to about 21.46 lakh acres of ayacut under NSLC and NSRC. And, this fact is known to the irrigation engineers of both the States.

“What they want is too far away from what we want. We have to find out some way out,” says an irrigation official from Telangana. It is the same feeling that exists in his counterparts. However, everything depends on their governments against the backdrop of KRMB performance so far remaining poor in resolving the issues between the two States.

By: VRC Phaniharan