KRMB Three-Member Committee to Meet Today

The Krishna River Management Board’s three-member committee is scheduled to meet at Jal Soudha in Hyderabad at 11 a.m. today. The KRMB Member Secretary and the Engineer-in-Chiefs of Telangana and Andhra Pradesh will participate in the meeting. The discussions are expected to focus on the water available in the Srisailam and Nagarjuna Sagar reservoirs and the drinking and other water requirements of both states.

Telangana has maintained that Krishna water should be distributed on a basin-based basis, with 71% allocated to Telangana and 29% to Andhra Pradesh. The state has also argued that Andhra Pradesh currently has no share in the available water and stressed the need to preserve water in the common reservoirs for drinking water requirements, as Telangana has limited storage facilities within its Krishna basin. Telangana has estimated that 50 TMC of water will be required for drinking water needs in the Krishna basin areas of the state until August next year, including 10 TMC from Srisailam and 40 TMC from Nagarjuna Sagar.

Andhra Pradesh, meanwhile, has sought water sharing in a 70:30 ratio between the two states. It has requested the release of 47 TMC from the Srisailam and Nagarjuna Sagar reservoirs for drinking water requirements until October 31. The state has also urged the KRMB to issue release orders allowing it to utilise 47 TMC for drinking water from its claimed share of 115.70 TMC.