Simmering tension over power generation by Telangana at Nagarjunasagar continued on the third day on Thursday, even as senior officials from Andhra Pradesh who crossed the border with a letter of protest returned ‘unacknowledged’ and disappointed.
In addition to Nagarjunasagar project, the State is also generating power at full-steam at the upstream Srisailam project and the downstream K.L. Rao Sagar Pulichintala project, joint multi-purpose projects between the Telugu States, amid maximum protection by security and police forces.
Visible protest
In response to Telangana’s firm stand, the Andhra Pradesh government marked its visible protest on Thursday by fortifying its side of the projects with police forces, also expressing readiness for any future action.
An official attempt, however, to protest Telangana’s stand on water usage to generate power was made by its Irrigation and Revenue officials late on Thursday .
According to Superintending Engineer of NSP (Right Canal) Purushottama Ganga Raju, who entered Nagarjunasagar to register the protest with the NSP Chief Engineer, Telangana was setting aside irrigation responsibilities for power production and letting the water go waste. “The dams are not even filled to capacities, and setting aside irrigation duty for power generation is not proper. We will be answerable to farmers,” he said.
Mr Raju, speaking to the media , also observed that the NSP CE “showed lack of responsibility” by not acknowledging his “mere protest letter.”
However, at the K.L. Rao Sagar Pulichintala project in Suryapet district limits, AP officials were successful in submitting their representation amid police security.
According to a senior official, the contents in the letter submitted by SE J. Ramesh Babu are the same as those sent by their official mail on June 29, when the power production first began with one unit.
It was noted that water was insufficient for power production, and it would adversely impact the stabilisation of 13 lakh acre irrigation under the Krishna delta.
