The Telangana government clarified that it has not given the Krishna River Management Board (KRMB) control over projects on the river Krishna. The Irrigation department secretary, Rahul Bojja, stated that the media reported incorrect information. He emphasized that the government is committed to protecting the State’s interests and has set conditions for handing over projects to the board. One of these conditions is that water sharing between Telangana and Andhra Pradesh should be done on a 50:50 basis until the Krishna Tribunal verdict.
According to the Krishna Tribunal-1, the needs of the Krishna Basin areas should be given top priority. Andhra Pradesh should only be allowed to divert 34 tmcft of Krishna water through the Pothireddypadu head regulator, and only 20% of the water used for drinking should be considered. The government also informed the Centre in a meeting on January 17 that Andhra Pradesh should stop constructing illegal structures to divert river water beyond the permitted limit.
Muralidhar, the Telangana Engineer-in-Chief (Irrigation), pointed out that the Union Jal Shakti ministry did not accurately record some of the views expressed by Telangana officials in the meeting on January 19. The minutes recorded that Telangana agreed to hand over 15 important project outlets to KRMB within a month and prepare operation protocols for project management implementation.
