Telangana & Andhra Pradesh clash over diversion of Godavari water to Krishna basin

HYDERABAD: After the row over diversion of Srisailam water and hydel power generation, Telangana and AP are now at loggerheads over diversion of Godavari water to Krishna basin.
The AP government has recently written a letter to Krishna River Management Board (KRMB) demanding that the board install telemetry at locations near Nagarjunasagar upstream areas where Godavari water is being diverted to Krishna by Telangana and share the water between the two states.
Rejecting AP claims, Telangana government engineer-in-chief (irrigation) C Muralidhar in a letter to KRMB chairman on Monday said that AP had no right to demand installation of telemetry at the diversion sites as per the Krishna and Godavari water tribunals.
“All the schemes mentioned by AP were contemplated by the united AP government and these areas would have been provided with irrigation facilities from Krishna through the Srisailam left canal system proposed with 150 tmcft up to Munneru valley by gravity. Nandikonda joint project report of 1954 contemplated one lakh acres irrigated through lift from Nagarjunasagar left canal after main Nagarjunasagar project power house is completed,” Muralidhar said.
He further said, “AP government deliberately ignored Nandikonda project and preferred areas outside the basin even though they were not part of Krishna basin.”
As per the KWDT-1 and riparian states agreements, all the states were at liberty to divert their part of Godavari share to any other basin and in lieu of their share, and no other state could raise a claim over such diversion, Muralidhar pointed out.
“The Telangana areas which are being served by Godavari water is not provided irrigation facilities by Krishna water. But diversion being made by AP is to areas already irrigated by Krishna,” the engineer-in-chief said.
Claiming that AP government’s demands were baseless, he said, “No deduction of share in Krishna arises and allegation made by AP is misleading and incorrect as they are neither replacing the existing irrigation by Krishna nor are they using surplus water of Godavari.”
Telangana government engineer-in-chief, C Muralidhar, rejected AP government’s claims and in a letter written to KRMB, he dais AP had no right to demand installation of telemetry at the diversion sites as per the Krishna and Godavari water tribunals