Board orders water Release From Sagar For 1 More week
The Krishna River Water Management Board has ordered
release of 6,000 cusecs of water daily to Krishna delta from Nagarjuna
Sagar Project (NSP) for one more week,
The order issued by board member secretary R.K. Gupta comes in the light of the Telangana
irrigation department officials’ decision to close the NSP gates from
Tuesday midnight. The extension of time for release of water follows a
letter addressed by the Andhra Pradesh
government to the water board seeking additional release of water to
meet the drinking water needs of Krishna, Guntur, West Godavari and
Prakasam districts.
The AP government, in its letter,
contended that though water release commenced from the project a week
ago, the staggered releases could not meet the requirement of the delta
as the quantum that reached the Prakasam barrage was “very minimal’’.
Irrigation officials maintained that against the 3.6 tmcft of water
released, the Prakasam barrage received 1.47 tmcft of water while the
crest level at the barrage was currently at little over 10 ft as against
12 ft full level.
The Irrigation department
officials complained that the dry bed, losses due to evaporation and
other factors had resulted in a steep drop in the amount of water that
actually reached the barrage. Senior officials, in their reports sent to
the government, informed that more than 500 tanks downstream were yet
to receive water a week after it was released from NSP.
Following
the complaint, a team of Central Water Commission officials led by
Deputy Executive Engineer G. Satyanarayana visited parts of the Krishna
delta on Tuesday. Accompanied by a team from the irrigation department,
the CWC officials visited Prakasam barrage and Ryves and Eluru canals
besides inspecting several tanks catering to drinking water needs
downstream.
“Following water release from NSP,
canals could reach less than 60 per cent of their flow levels. We are
pushing hard to get more water for drinking water needs,” a senior
official who accompanied the CWC team told The Hindu. According
to sources, the CWC officials who obtained first hand information
briefed the water management board about the ground situation over
telephone following which the orders for continuing release of water for
one more week had been issued.