‘No unconditional handover of river projects’: Telangana assembly adopts resolution

Hyderabad : The Telangana legislative assembly on Monday adopted a unanimous resolution, refusing to hand over the control of two major irrigation projects on Krishna river – Nagarjunasagar and Srisailam – to the Krishna River Management Board (KRMB), unless it agrees to the conditions put forth by the state government.
State irrigation minister N Uttam Kumar Reddy moved the resolution in the assembly and it was adopted after an intense debate and heated arguments between the ruling Congress and the opposition Bharat Rashtra Samithi members.
“In view of the historical injustice and the current situation, the House hereby resolves that the Government of Telangana shall not handover control of common projects to KRMB unless the conditions put forth by the state have been fulfilled,” the resolution said.
Specifying the conditions, Reddy said in the resolution that water sharing between Andhra Pradesh and Telangana shall be on the basis of catchment area, drought prone area, basin population and cultivable area. As per the Krishna Water Dispute Tribunal, in-basin needs shall be met first on priority, he said.
He said the minimum draw-down level (MDDL) of Srisailam project, which is essentially a hydro-electric project, shall be maintained at 830 ft. Outside basin diversions from Srisailam reservoir shall be limited to only 34 thousand million cubic feet (TMC), including 15 TMC for Chennai water supply and 19 TMC for Srisailam Right Branch Canal.
The resolution also said both the states shall be permitted to carry over water to the next year as per KWDT and shall not be accounted as use in the next year account. “Unauthorised construction of projects/expansions/new components diverting Krishna water to outside basin shall not be permitted strictly unless approved by the Centre,” he said.
The resolution also requested the Centre to withdraw the Central Reserve Police Forces (CRPF) and handover the control of the projects to the Telangana government.
The irrigation minister, who gave a power-point presentation on the Krishna waters issue, said after the formation of Telangana, sufficient attention was not given to the requirements of the Krishna basin, and the then government agreed to the grossly unfair ratio of water sharing between the two states, which is 299 TMC to Telangana and 512 TMC to Andhra Pradesh, he said.
“Through the AP Reorganization Act 2014, the KRMB was created to regulate the water sharing between the two states. The previous government also proposed to hand over the common projects, Srisailam and Nagarjunasagar, to the control of KRMB, which is detrimental to the interests of Telangana,” Reddy said.
The minister pointed out that on the night of November 29, 2023, the Andhra Pradesh government had sent armed police and forcibly taken over the control of the right side of Nagarjunasagar dam, which was till then under the control of Telangana. The Central government intervened and sent CRPF to remove the Andhra police, he said.
He said the Telangana’s proposal for project handover with conditions reflects the intricacies of water management. The intricate nature of the problems requires ongoing discussion, legal resolution, and a cooperative strategy for a lasting solution, he asserted.
“This House shall escalate this issue at the appropriate level and attempt in full capacity to resolve KRMB issues,” he said.
Intervening during the discussion, chief minister A Revanth Reddy sought to known whether the BRS was in support of handing over the projects to the Centre or if it was opposing the development. “Why are they not supporting the resolution for protecting the interests of the State?”
The chief minister said the Opposition leader should have participated in the debate and supported the government’s resolution demanding 68% share in the Krishna water to Telangana owing to the extent of the river and its catchment area.
Participating in the debate, BRS legislator and former irrigation minister T Harish Rao accused the Congress government of slinging mud at the previous BRS government for political gains.
Describing the resolution as a victory of the BRS and the people of Telangana, Rao said the Congress government had hurriedly moved the resolution after the BRS announced holding of public meeting at Nalgonda on Tuesday to highlight the Krishna waters issue.
Refuting the allegation made by the irrigation minister that the previous BRS government had failed to secure legitimate share in Krishna waters to Telangana, Harish Rao said the KCR government had written as many as 27 letters to the Centre demanding 50% share in Krishna waters to the state. “The BRS government had always refused to hand over the projects to the KRMB in the past. But only after the Congress government took over, it has agreed to hand over the projects to the KRMB on February 1,” he alleged.