Jagan writes to Union min, seeks intervention in water sharing dispute with Telangana

Days after writing to the Union government including Prime Minister Narendra Modi over river Krishna water sharing between Andhra Pradesh and Telangana, AP CM YS Jagan Mohan Reddy once again wrote to Union Jalshakti Minister Gajendra Shekhawat urging him to protect the interest of Andhra Pradesh. The Chief Minister on Monday, in a four page letter, alleged that the state of Telangana is showing belligerent attitude regarding operation protocol of common reservoirs of Andhra  and Telangana on the river Krishna.

YS Jagan Mohan Reddy wrote "It is disheartening to once again bring to your notice that the State of Telangana continues to blatantly violate the provisions of Andhra Pradesh Reorganisation Act, 2014, acting in a whimsical manner with utter disregard to the operational protocols and directions of the KRMB causing lot of distress to the State of Andhra Pradesh depriving us of our rightful share of water and wasting precious water as this is surplusing into Bay of Bengal."

Jagan further stated  "The state of Telangana is not allowing water levels to be built up in the Srisailam reservoir and has utilised 19 TMC for power generation out of 26 TMC of inflows since 01-06-2021. In view of this adamant attitude of the State of Telangana, reaching water levels +854 ft seems to be a herculean task, which is essential for drawing water through gravity for the schemes dependent on Pothireddypadu Head Regulator. This will cause severe distress to the chronically drought prone Rayalaseema region, SPSR Nellore, Prakasam districts and also Chennai city, as they depend on Srisailam Reservoir for their Drinking water and Irrigation needs."

The Andhra Pradesh CM has alleged that the state of Telangana is continuing  to unilaterally operate hydel power generation from Nagarjuna Sagar Project without placing indent before Krishna River Board Management Board (KRMB) in violation of the protocol for water drawls.

CM also urged the Union government to declare the jurisdiction of the KRMB, while alleging that KRMB is proposing to visit Rayalaseema Lift Irrigation Scheme under the guise of National Green Tribunal (NGT order at a time ignoring the requests of AP to visit unauthorised projects in Telangana. CM also requested to stop at once the indiscriminate drawal of water solely for power generation when there is no need for irrigation and to direct the KRMB to be neutral in functioning.

CM also sought Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) cover to oversee the effective operation and maintenance in the interest of both the states. CM has also written to Union  Minister of Environment , Forest and Climate Change (MoEF&CC) Prakasha Javadekar urging him to give clearance to Rayalaseema Lift Irrigation Scheme, he wrote " issue necessary amendment to the existing Environmental Clearances as noted supra and to permit to proceed with the execution of works of Rayalaseema Lift Scheme at an early date as any delay in this regard will adversely affect the interests of the State of Andhra Pradesh in view of the whimsical attitude of the state of Telangana."

Both the Telugu states are having a severe standoff over Krishna river water sharing, police belonging to both the states have been deployed along the interstate borders