Home Ministry asks A.P. to restore pre-November 28 position on Sagar dam

A.P. police occupy half of Nagarjunasagar dam, draw water without permission. MHA intervenes, River Board to take over management. A.P. has drawn 158 tmc ft in excess of its share, Telangana has saved 18 tmc ft. A.P. and Telangana share 512 tmc ft and 299 tmc ft, respectively. Water drawal from Right Canal by A.P. recorded at 4,000 cusecs. MHA, River Board, A.P. and Telangana agree to restore pre-Nov 28 position.

The ‘occupation’ of half of the spillway of Nagarjunasagar Project by the Andhra Pradesh police from the late night of November 29 with heavy deployment of force, barricading and barbed-wire hurdles as also unauthorised drawal of water from the Right Canal from November 30 afternoon continued on Friday even after the intervention of the Ministry of Home Affairs.

Union Union Home Secretary Ajay Kumar Bhalla held a video-conference with the authorities of A.P., Telangana, Ministry of Jal Shakti and the Krishna River Management Board (KRMB) and asked the A.P. authorities to restore the pre-November 28 position at the dam.

Official sources stated that the two member States of the River Board have agreed to handover the management of the Nagarjunasagar dam to the River Board and deployment of CRPF personnel for security at the MoHA meeting. Chief Secretary of Telangana A. Santi Kumar stated at the meeting that about 500 police personnel of A.P. swarmed on to the dam on November 29 night and destroyed the closed-circuit television cameras.

The Chief Secretary further stated that the A.P. authorities were drawing over 5,000 cusecs of water by opening the head regulator sluices unilaterally. The A.P.’s move had also created the law and order problem when the entire official machinery, including the police, of Telangana were engaged with the conduct of polling for Assembly elections. It was the second time A.P. had resorted to such such an excess, she noted.

Following the unwarranted move by the A.P. with the claims that half of the dam belongs to it and that it has liberty to draw water as and when required by taking physical control over half of the dam, the River Board addressed a letter to A.P. early on Friday and asked it to stop drawal of water from the Right Canal immediately.

The River Board stated that no indent from A.P. for water release is pending with it and as per the indent approved on October 9, 5 tmc ft water was released from October 10 to 20, another 5 tmc ft is scheduled to be released from January 8 to 18, 2024 and 5 tmc ft more from April 8 to 18.

Official sources told The Hindu that the high handedness of A.P. in water drawal was continuing from from the day of bifurcation of combined A.P. and there is no instance where it had drawn lesser water than agreed ad hoc water share. “In 2022-23 water year, Telangana has saved 18 tmc ft out of its share and A.P. has drawn about 158 tmc ft in excess of its share. When asked we (Telangana) have also donated 4 tmc ft water from our share in spite of their excess drawal,” the official explained citing an example of A.P.’s higher drawal.