AP drawing water from Pothireddypadu irks Telangana

Hyderabad: The Telangana government has lodged a complaint with KRMB (Krishna River Management Board) against the Andhra Pradesh government for drawing water illegally from the Pothireddypadu head regulator on Tuesday.

Telangana Engineer–in-Chief (Irrigation) C Muralidhar shot off a strong letter to KRMB Member Secretary Sameer Chatterjee wherein he objected to the release of water from the Srisailam project to the Pothireddypadu head regulator by Andhra Pradesh without seeking permission from the board. The TS government also bought to the notice of KRMB the ‘illegal’ release of water from the Muchumarri Lift Irrigation Scheme.

Top officials of the Irrigation department told The Hans India that the Telangana engineers deployed at the Pothireddypadu head regulator found that AP had released 5,000 cusecs of water till Tuesday afternoon.

The telemetry system installed at the project site also measured considerable drawl of water. TS officials said the AP has no right to release water to Pothireddypadu without obtaining permission from KRMB. The AP government has requested the board for the release of 5 TMC of water to Pothireddypadu, another 5 TMC for Handri Neeva Sujala Sravanthi and 6 TMC into the Nagarjunasagar right canal.

In the letter, the Engineer–in-Chief said: “Andhra Pradesh government took unilateral decision and diverted assured water to the Pothireddypadu regulator. “He asked the board to call for a meeting immediately to discuss drinking water needs and action plan for the current year 2017-18. The official also brought to the notice of the board the precarious position with regard to drinking water.

As against a MDDL (Minimum Draw Down Level) of 510 feet, the water level in Sagar is 500.90 feet. This needs to be replenished on priority,” he said. The TS government has already lodged a strong protest with the board for the release of water from the Muchumarri Lift Irrigation Project in Kurnool district recently.