AP, TS Tug of War Over Supply of Drinking Water to Hyderabad

Hyderabad: A tug of war between Andhra Pradesh and Telangana is expected over sharing of Krishna water being supplied to Hyderabad city, at the Krishna River Management Board (KRMB) meet here on Friday.

Telangana proposed that Andhra Pradesh should share the water supplied to Hyderabad through the Nagarjunasagar dam. It contended that since Hyderabad is the joint Capital of AP and Telangana, both states should meet the drinking water needs of the city. However, the AP government has decided to contest the proposal of Telangana on the grounds that Krishna water was allotted to Hyderabad long before the state’s bifurcation. AP is expected to argue that it is the duty of Telangana government to meet the drinking water needs of Hyderabad.

Telangana has not agreed to share with AP the revenue it receives from Hyderabad. Therefore, it cannot stake a claim in the water allocated to AP.

AP irrigation officials expressed at the agenda for Friday’s meeting, which listed sharing of water from Nagarjunasagar between the two states. They contend that in the united AP, the allocation for projects like Vaikunthapuram scheme (which now falls in the upcoming capital city of Amaravati) was reduced to cater to the needs of Hyderabad.Thus, AP will not bear any additional share of water for Hyderabad.

“Telangana has not agreed to share with AP the revenue it receives from Hyderabad. Therefore, it cannot stake a claim in the water allocated to AP. We will argue our case before the board tomorrow,“ a senior AP irrigation official said. Friday’s agenda includes Telangana`s demand of share in the Godavari water diverted to the Krishna river through Pattiseema lift irrigation project. AP will counter the claim on the grounds that it has plans for diversion of only 45 tmc through the Pattiseema project. On the other hand, Telangana contends that AP is diverting 90 tmc ft of Godavari water. The two states will also battle over the generation of power from the Srisailam dam. AP is of the view that the river board has no jurisdiction over power generation.