Hyderabad: State law minister Erasu Pratap Reddy has sent a special note on the request of defence minister A.K. Antony on the controversial issue surrounding the Srisailam Dam and sharing of waters among Telangana and Seemandhra.
After Hyderabad's status as a capital city, the Srisailam Dam on the Krishna River has become controversial in the backdrop of the state's bifurcation.
State law minister Erasu Pratap Reddy has sent a special note on the request of defence minister A.K. Antony on the controversial issue surrounding the Srisailam Dam and sharing of waters among Telangana and Seemandhra.
In the note, Reddy has stated that the division of AP into smaller states will give rise to a number of complications regarding sharing of waters as well as operation of the projects. The head works of the projects on Krishna River are located in such a way that one side of the river is in Telangana while the other is in Rayalaseema and Coastal Andhra.
“There are a number of such projects which gives rise to conflicts, starting from the Rajolibanda Diversion Scheme, Pothireddypadu Head Regulator, Srisailam and Nagarjunsagar. Conflicting interests with regard to quantum and time of water release for generation of hydro power, and for other purposes including flood evacuation etc. will arise,“ stated Pratap Reddy .
He also said that since a majority of the projects were in Telangana on the Krishna, it would get assured waters under tribunal awards, while Rayalaseema based projects like Telugu Ganga, Galeru-Nagari and Handri-Neva would be affected due to the allocation of “surplus“ waters.
Given the fact that Srisailam Dam, the capacity of which has already come down from 308 tmc ft to 215 tmc ft due to heavy siltation, is losing 3 tmc ft capacity each year, once the state is divided, more complications will arise in the operations of the lift irrigation schemes as both Telangana and Seemandhra regions will start lifting water without considering the demands of the lower areas.
Srisailam Dam was originally built for the purpose of generating hydro-electricity and it has not yet been officially converted into a multipurpose project so that drinking water and irrigation water got first and second priority. This is a matter of grave concern, said the note.
Telangana, which suffers from acute power shortage, will have to depend more on hydel generation. However, if the state is divided, Telangana will not be able to operate the generating stations as the state on the other bank will run the generation stations on its side.
Furthermore, drought-prone areas will not get any help during emergencies.