The Andhra Pradesh High Court, on Monday, stayed the state government's directions to release water from the Nagarjuna Sagar reservoir to the Krishna delta.
The court was responding to a public interest petition filed by retired APSEB chief engineer V Venkata Reddy and 10 others from Hyderabad and Nalgonda districts, with a request for a direction to the government to not release water from the Nagarjuna Sagar reservoir to the Krishna delta if the Minimum Draw Down Level (MDDL) at the dam falls below 525 feet.
The court, in its interim orders, directed the government to not release water if the water level falls below 510 feet.
The court also issued notices to the state government and the Irrigation department, asking them to submit a comprehensive report on the status of the discharge of water from the dam within two weeks. While issuing the notices, the court adjourned the hearing on the case for two weeks.
It may be mentioned here that despite protests from the TRS, the CPI and the CPI-ML (ND), the government had decided to
release 15 TMC feet of water from the reservoir, to save crops in the delta area, on a daily basis, from the first week of July.
In the petition, the petitioners alleged that the government's decision violates the rights of the people of Nalgonda and the twin cities of Hyderabad and Secunderabad, with regard to drinking water requirements.
They said that the government had decided to release the water to the Prakasam barrage at Vijayawada, bowing to the demands of the delta's ayacutdars and their public representatives.
The release of water would directly affect the rights of the left canal ayacutdars, the petitioners said, and requested the court to declare the government's decision as illegal, unconstitutional and discriminatory. (INN)