Telangana, Andhra to handover projects to central body

The Telangana and Andhra Pradesh governments on Thursday agreed in principle to hand over the operation and maintenance of inter-state irrigation projects of Srisailam and Nagarjunasagar on Krishna river to Krishna River Management Board (KRMB). However, they insisted that there should be a clarity on river water sharing before the board takes over the projects, officials said.
The meeting at Hyderabad’s Jalasoudha was attended by KRMB chairman Shiv Nandan Kumar, irrigation engineer-in-chiefs and senior irrigation officials of both states.
Telangana engineer-in-chief (irrigation) C Muralidhar told the reporters that both the states had agreed to hand over the management of Nagarjunasagar and Srisailam to KRMB only with regard to protocols on water releases from the project outlets.
“There was no discussion on hydel power stations which continue to be under the control of the respective states. We have told KRMB that we are committed to the demand for 50% share in Krishna river water,” he said.
It was also agreed upon at the meeting that a three-member expert committee would be appointed to decide on the river water sharing between the two states. The Telangana government would take further steps after the allocation of equal share in the river water, he added.
His Andhra Pradesh counterpart Narayan Reddy said both states have agreed to hand over all the 15 prioritised components/outlets of the two projects to the river board, including six in Telangana. “It was also decided that Central Reserve Police Forces would keep a strict vigil on Nagarjunasagar dam and would allow engineers and officials of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana to enter the structure only after permission from the river board,” said Reddy.
He added that the final decision on river water share of the two states would be in the hands of the three-member expert committee. “Both the states have agreed to this proposal,” he stated. The KRMB would be assisted by engineers and other staff members to be deputed by both the states for operation and maintenance of the two irrigation projects, said the official.
In November last year, Andhra Pradesh police had clashed with their Telangana counterparts at Nagarjunasagar site and took control over half of the project’s spillway area.