Allocation of water is the prerogative of the Krishna Water Disputes Tribunal (KWDT).
Published Date – 19 January 2024, 07:30 PM
File photo of Srisailam Dam.
Hyderabad: Telangana State is going to seek fulfillment of key operation protocols by the Ministry of Jal Shakti before handing over the joint projects in the Krishna Basin to the River Management Board.
As a senior official of the State Irrigation Department puts it, the functions of Krishna River Management Board (KRMB) are primarily to regulate the supply of water to both the States. It will be in accordance with either the Tribunal Award and the agreements that have been reached by the two States as part of the bifurcation arrangements.
Allocation of water is the prerogative of the Krishna Water Disputes Tribunal (KWDT). The river board has no authority to indulge in allocating waters to the States. The River Board also has no brief to intervene in power generation issues either. It would not be able to come in the way of Telangana State’s right over power generation under any circumstances, he stressed.
The right over the operation of the power houses, going by even the State Reorganisation Act, shall remain with the States concerned. The Bachawat Tribunal did not make any separate allocations for Srisailam Hydro-electric project since it is meant for generating power only. In one of its reports, the Tribunal has reiterated that Srisailam is a Hydro-electric Project for generating power without diverting to any other watershed.
The Srisailam project is only source of inflows for the Nagarjuna Sagar project. As per the mandate of the Planning Commission, 264 tmc of water has to be released from Srisailam project through its power generation channels to Nagarjuna Sagar. This is an important provision and it can neither be altered by the KRMB, nor tampered with.
Thus, the Bachawat Tribunal has clarified in no uncertain terms that Srisailam Reservoir is meant purely for generating power without diverting water to any water shed except for irrigation. Subsequent governments however, have changed scope of the Project by adding the irrigation element .
The Centre must consider the carry over facility before expecting Telangana State to respond positively. Our right on the quantity of water we could save in the current water year by adopting conservation methods cannot be deprived of. What we could save on our quote in the reservoirs should be carried over to the next water year. This facility had been provided by the KWDT-1 .
The clause of 20 per cent “consumptive use” has to be honoured on priority. As per the KWDT, only 20 per cent of the releases given to meet the drinking water needs should be taken in to account as 80 per cent of the water would join the river once again in the form of return flows.
The State has been taking some 16 tmc for the drinking water needs of the twin cities of Hyderabad and Secunderabad. Only three tmc of it can be added to the utilisation of the State.
This should be considered as our pre-condition to look into the directions of the Ministry of Jal Shakti, he added. We will continue our discussion with the Ministry of Jal Shakti. No decision was made at our end to concede what the Jal Shakti has been asking for.
The stalemate is still continuing. As the KRMB wanted to take over even the staff manning the projects so far and the irrigation outlets under the projects, the issue of the employees would also figure prominently in the next meeting.
