Telangana has expressed discontent at the Krishna River Management Board (KRMB) for not providing it with certain information/ data/ documents which formed the basis for formulation of the draft of rule curves for the operation of joint water storage facilities — Srisailam and Nagarjunasagar — in spite of repeated requests.
In a letter addressed to Chairman of the river board M.P. Singh, Engineer-in-Chief (General-Irrigation) of Telangana C. Muralidhar said on Saturday that three letters were addressed to the board already on July 2, July 29 and August 11 requesting the information/ data, particularly on Srisailam reservoir and various water drawal facilities based on it.
He reminded the river board Chairman that minutes of the second meeting of the reservoir management committee (RMC) held on May 30 had clearly mentioned that the rule curves for the two common projects have been prepared incorporating provisions of KWDT-I Award and Technical Advisory Committee (TAC) approved notes for various components and the inter-State agreement on drinking water supply to Chennai.
It was also mentioned that the 37 years’ inflow series, for the 1984-2021 period, has also been used in the formulation of rule curves. The dam parameters that impact the formulation are mainly the full reservoir level (FRL) and minimum draw down level (MDDL) for irrigation, which are taken as 885 ft and 854 ft, respectively.
Mr. Muralidhar reiterated, while requesting the river board one more time, that the data/ information sought by Telangana was necessary to examine and express the view of the State on the draft rule curves with inputs for the formulation of the final provisions for the management of the two projects.
The next meeting of RMC which was scheduled on August 23 could not be held following a request by Andhra Pradesh and is postponed to September 2, when the issue of rule curves is likely to be taken up again. In a letter addressed to Telangana (ENC) during the first week of this month, the river board has suggested the ENC to raise the issue, including requirement of data, if any, at the next meeting of the RMC.
