Telangana wants KRMB help for water flow into Nagarjuna Sagar

HYDERABAD: To tide over the present water shortage in Hyderabad, the government has decided to approach the Krishna River Management Board to get sanction for the release of water from

Srisailam

to Nagarjuna Sagar.

With fresh inflows into Jurala, water is being released to Srisailam leading to the level there nearing the 800 feet mark. The city has to meet the needs of over one crore people living in and around Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) limits. This apart, water from Nagarjuna Sagar is being diverted to Udaya Samudram to quench the thirst of people in fluoride-hit Nalgonda.

"Once the water level at Srisailam crosses the 800 feet mark, we will approach the

KRMB

for an emergency release of water to Nagarjuna Sagar, which at present has water 10 feet below the minimum draw level. We are struggling to meet the ever increasing demand from Hyderabad," said a senior engineer of the irrigation department.

Though the release of water has been contentious with objections from the Rayalaseema region asking it not to draw water before the level reaches 854 feet, the Telangana government has decided to play the emergency card as there were previous instances of water being released after the level touched 800-feet.

But to the dismay of Telangana and AP , the situation at Almatti is not encouraging. Inflows into Alamatti, which was over 50,000 cusecs two days ago, have now come down to 19,000 cusecs. At Narayanpur, both inflows and discharges have plummeted to 17,000 cusecs. The officials now fear further reduction in the water availability .

Rains have taken a break in the upper Krishna basin, sending a clear signal that there would be no fresh inflows into Jurala and Srisailam. Though Jurala has received about 8 tmc feet water this season, water storage at Srisailam has been a matter of concern. Against the 215 tmc feet water capacity, the dam at present has only 27 tmc feet water. Out of this, both the states want a higher share to meet the immediate drinking water needs under the Nagarjuna Sagar Right Bank Canal and AMRP lift projects.

"We will ensure that at least 10 tmc feet water is released from Srisailam by next week," said officials.