Telangana needs strategy for water crisis

Hyderabad: With overall availability of water in both Nagarjuna Sagar and Srisailam – the two common projects of the Telugu States in Krishna basin coming down to just 62 tmc, the irrigation authorities believe that it would be yet another year of near scarcity conditions in the command area.

A tightrope walk is inevitable in managing the drinking water needs till August next and irrigation needs for the next two months. It is more so in the case of Telangana State.

Since no water supply was given for Kharif crops under the Nagarjuna Sagar Left Canal this year, farmers opted for Yasangi in a big way. NSP Chief Engineer S Sunil told Telangana Today that Yasangi crops raised in over five lakh acres under the left canal have been given four wettings so far. Another three-and-a-half or four more wettings are needed to get the optimum yield. As on Wednesday, some 25 tmc of water was utilised for irrigation purposes under the left canal and another 16 tmc would be required till the end of the season.

So far as meeting the drinking water needs and Mission Bhagiratha scheme implementation in the command area districts till August, 2018 is concerned, the State would require another 9 TMC. Besides this, the drinking water needs of Hyderabad city are of top priority and the requirement was estimated to be around nine TMC. Four TMC will be the requirement under the Alimineti Madhav Reddy Project (AMRP). Both the AMRP and Hyderabad Metro Water Supply (MMWS) were given an allotment of 4.4 tmc by the Krishna River Management Board (KRMB) only for February.

Sunil said the NSP left canal has an ayacut to be fed in Andhra Pradesh too. About 15 TMC of water has been given so far to the AP ayacut under the left canal. The NSLC’s major distributaries at Mylavaram and Nuzvid are in full flow to meet the irrigation needs of Yasangi crops till Saturday.

The KRMB on February 7 approved fresh indents of Telangana State and AP and accordingly they would have entitlement to 34.990 tmc and 17.09 tmc respectively. But the overall requirement of the two States are expected to be far above the overall availability.

Facing distress conditions, the project authorities had drained the Nagarajuna Sagar Project by about 45 tmc below the Minimum Draw Down Level (MDDL) of 510 ft last year. Unless effective water management practices are adopted in meeting the irrigation needs during Yasangi, a repeat of 2017 may be inevitable, irrigation officials fear.