Water Row: Telangana Writes To KRMB

The government of Telangana today informed the Krishna River Management Board that the Srisailam hydroelectric project was meant for power production.

In a letter addressed to the board, state irrigation officials opposed the arguments put forth by the Andhra Pradesh government demanding that electricity generation at the left side of the project site be stopped.

The TRS regime's response comes at a time when the Jagan government has been raising objections to the power generation activities being carried out at the Srisailam project. The government of the neighbouring state recently even wrote a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi appealing to the latter to intervene and address the controversial issue of water sharing.

The officials maintained that Telangana had every right to produce power by using its water and that AP did not have any grounds on which to raise objections against this.

"In 1959, the Planning Commission of India had okayed the Srisailam project as a hydroelectric one. Then, in 1963, the commission had clarified that the waters of the project were to be used only for power generation and not for irrigation or other purposes. Besides, the Telangana government is following every stipulated norm for power production, and, therefore, nobody can raise any objections about the same," they added.

In the midst of the row, Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao has instructed ministers and officials to make the necessary arrangements to secure the state's share of waters despite the objections of the AP government.

Fresh clashes between the KCR and Jagan regimes have cropped yet again on the longstanding water feud between Telangana and AP. Leaders from each side have been levelling allegations of "water looting" against the other as a result.