Srisailam Power Generation: Jagan Seeks PM's Help

YSR Congress Party president Y S Jaganmohan Reddy on Friday urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi to intervene and restrain the Telangana Government from using the Srisailam water for power generation.

"This is an SOS seeking your urgent intervention in the ongoing issue of water releases from the Srisailam project by the Telangana Government for power generation to meet its power requirements. The Telangana Government has started power generation from the hydro power stations located on the Telangana side of the Srisailam project to meet its ever-mounting power deficit. The stations have a generating capacity of 900 MW, and if used to the full capacity, about 5 TMC of water per day will be discharged. This is leading to release of substantial quantities of water from the Srisailam reservoir downstream. The water levels in the Srisailam reservoir have already fallen to 857 feet, and are expected to fast deplete, unless the Telangana Government stops power generation immediately," Jagan said in his letter to the Prime Minister.

Jagan said that the immediate consequence of the reduction in the water level in the Srisailam project below the minimum draw-down level of 854 feet would be denial to the Rayalaseema region of its share of water. At this rate, the perennially drought-prone Rayalaseema region, which as on 24th October 2014 had a rain fall deficit of 62%, would not have water even for drinking purposes, let alone for crops.

"This will lead to a serious human problem of unprecedented dimension, unless checked immediately," he said.

"Another major consequence of the continued hydro power generation in the Srisailam project by Telangana is the release of huge quantities of water to downstream projects, and if this continues for a few days more, the AP Government will have no choice except to start leaving the water into the Bay of Bengal, with dangerous consequences for even Coastal Andhra, particularly the Krishna delta region, for drinking water in the months to come," Jagan said.

The YSRCP chief acknowledged the fact that Telangana was a power-starved State with huge power outages affecting both agriculture and industry. "But on balance, the power generation by water releases by the Telangana Government will pose very serious consequences, which will hugely outweigh the benefit to the Telangana State," he said.

"The immediate need of the hour is to stop power generation in Srisailam without waiting even for a minute. The Telangana Government definitely needs the sympathetic consideration of the Union Government to tide over its present power crisis. The Union Government may kindly allocate/supply about 15 million units of power per day from out of the central generating stations to Telangana," he suggested, while asking for a permanent mechanism to resolve the inter-state power issues, on the lines of the Krishna-Godavari Boards.

Jagan also accused the governments of both Andhra Pradesh and Telangana of not cooperating with each other.

"Their unwillingness to cooperate and work transparently has been causing severe problems to the people of both the States. Apparently, both the governments seem to be politicising issues rather than finding solutions. Naturally, the people have become casualties," he said. (INN)