A gentle reminder on its earlier letter of February 5 to Andhra Pradesh on the issue of the latter’s plans to enhance the water drawal capacity of Pothireddypadu head regulator sent on May 13 and writing another letter on Friday asking AP to furnish details on its GO 203 by Krishna River Management Board (KRMB) have left the Telangana irrigation authorities highly disappointed.
In a letter addressed to the Special Chief Secretary of Water Resources of AP Government on Friday, Member of KRMB Harikesh Meena requested the former to “immediately furnish the AP Government views on Telangana’s letter and also furnish a copy of the detailed project report on the schemes mentioned in GO 203 by treating it as priority”.
“We are left highly disappointed with the KRMB’s approach on the highly sensitive issue that involves the riparian rights of a State. We were expecting that the river board would initially ask AP not to go ahead with its plans on Rayalaseema Lift Scheme to divert 3 tmc ft water a day from Srisailam reservoir and another 5 tmc ft a day from Pothireddypadu (PRP) by increasing its drawal capacity. Instead, the board’s approach is like washing off it hands by simply writing a letter,” highly-placed officials in the Irrigation Department of Telangana said unwilling to quoted at this juncture.
The official said it was basic responsibility and right as provided for in the AP Reorganisation Act to tell a member State not to go-ahead with its plans contravening the provisions of the Act since AP was planning new projects as mentioned in its orders (GO 203) – Rayalaseema Lift and PRP expansion since its entire allocation of 512 tmc ft, as the arrangement in vogue, has already been tied up to meet the needs under different irrigation and drinking water systems. “Simply forward letters of contention by one State to another is nothing beyond a postman’s job,” the senior official remarked.
The KRMB’s letter to AP also reminds the latter that it had initially written a letter on February 5 this year after Telangana’s letter dated Janaury 29 to furnish details (DPR) of the PRP capacity enhancement plans. However, there has been no response till date.
Citing Para-7 of the Eleventh Schedule of APRA the KRMB letter to AP said: “No new project based on water resources arrived at based on appropriate dependability criteria on Krishna river can be taken up by either Talangana or AP without obtaining sanction from the Apex Council on river waters. All such proposals shall be first appraised and technically cleared by the river board before sanction by the Apex Council”.
