The State government has requested the Andhra Pradesh government to release 17.5 tmcft of Krishna river water for catering to the drinking water needs of Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation area and Nalgonda district.
The request follows the two tmcft water released by the neighbouring State on the instructions of the Krishna River Management Board for release of water to meet immediate needs in Nalgonda district. “Convincing Andhra Pradesh was not an easy task and the water was released only after we announced our intentions to commence hydel power generation,” a senior official said.
Though the State had made arrangements to release water from Singur to cater to the needs of the State capital, the quantum available in Singur is expected to meet the needs for just over a fortnight and hence, the request for release of water to meet the requirements in the near future, senior officials said.
Given the complexity in convincing the neighbouring State every time the State faced shortage of water to meet drinking needs, the State Government is reported to be exploring options to present a strong case with the Centre on the issue. The government decided to make a presentation on the situation to Union Water Resources Minister Nitin Gadkari who was “highly positive” to the concerns expressed by the State during the meeting of the National Water Development Agency meeting held at New Delhi a couple of days ago.
Automatic release
The government has decided to impress upon the Centre the need to evolve a mechanism wherein it should be made mandatory for the upper riparian States to release water downstream. “The neighbouring Karnataka government has released water during the current season only after drawing water sufficient to its needs besides ensuring adequate storage in Alamatti project. There has to be some fixed share say 40 % or 50 % that should be released to lower riparian States and we will insist on such a provision,” the official said.
The State had already clarified its stand on the river water interlinking proposal mooted by the Centre. It was firm that the available water should be used for in basin and out basin needs first and this should be followed by transfer of water from surplus to deficient areas within the State. “The requirements of the State should be fulfilled first. Only then we can work out the modalities for linking of the rivers.”