In a surprise move, the Government of Andhra Pradesh on November 30 took control of what it called “its legitimate area” of the Nagarjunasagar Project (NSP) Right Canal on the Krishna river, and released 3,000 cusecs of drinking water.
The released water was within the limits of the legally allocated quantity by the Krishna River Management Board (KRMB), the government claimed.
At a time when the Government of Telangana was gearing up for the conduct of the general elections, the Government of Andhra Pradesh, in the intervening night of November 29 and 30, deployed hundreds of special police personnel up to its boundary on the NSP located near Macherla in Palnadu district.
The police personnel removed the barricades, check-posts and CC cameras allegedly installed by the Telangana government in the jurisdiction of Andhra Pradesh.
The Government of Andhra Pradesh had been complaining of “unlawful occupation of its territory and holding complete control of the project” by the neighbouring Telangana since bifurcation of the State, which it said was against the provisions of the Andhra State Pradesh Reorganisation Act, 2014.
“We have taken control of our facilities in our territory. And these facilities are supposed to take care of the requirements of Andhra Pradesh,” Shashibhushan Kumar, Principal Secretary, Water Resources Department, Government of Andhra Pradesh, told The Hindu.
The facilities included, among others, the right canal, the power house, the area up to the midline of the NSP, and the police check-posts.
“The government released 3,000 cusecs of water for drinking purposes through the NSP Right Canal, and it will be continued for four to five days,” Mr. Shashibhushan Kumar said.
“The water released will be around 0.3 tmc feet per day. Despite drought conditions, the government is not able to get water from the NSP as the storage levels are not sufficient to meet the agricultural demand. The Andhra Pradesh government has been drawing drinking water as per the award given by the KRMB,” he said.
Meanwhile, Water Resources Minister Ambati Rambabu confirmed the release of drinking water through the NSP Right Canal.
“It is not about water alone, it is a law and order issue too. The Government of Telangana has placed four check-posts in our territory,” observed a senior bureaucrat while explaining the inter-State disputes between Andhra Pradesh and Telangana.
Palnadu Superintendent of Police Y. Ravi Sankara Reddy confirmed that the district police had taken control of the “rightful territory on the NSP” by deploying additional forces.
