841 feet is the new magic figure for drawal
G Venkataramana RaoVIJAYAWADA, JULY 24, 2018 00:17 IST
UPDATED: JULY 24, 2018 00:17 IST
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State issues GO reducing level from 854 feet
With the water level in the Neelam Sanjeeva Reddy Srisailam Reservoir still 6.5 feet below the erstwhile magic figure or 854 feet, Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu’s announcement that water would be released to the Pothireddypadu head regulator came as a surprise to many. The announcement is not as arbitrary as it may appear though.
The Rajasekhara Reddy government issued an order saying water from the Srisailam dam should not be drawn until the level reached 854 ft. According to the G.O., if the level fell below it, A.P. could not draw water for its Rayalaseema projects through Pothireddypadu.
No consensus
After bifurcation, the two States could not arrive at a consensus and began drawing water well before the level had reached the magic figure.
Last October, the Telangana government withdrew from the agreement to wait for 854 ft before drawing water. Irrigation Minister T. Harish Rao wrote to the Centre that it withdrew “its consent to maintain the water level in Srisailam at 854 ft”.
The A.P. government however upstaged Telangana by issuing a G.O. dated February 23, 2017 and reducing the level for drawing water from the head regulator to 841 ft. It even sanctioned ₹17 crore to widen the approach channel of the regulator to draw water at that level.
2 lakh cusecs received
The Chief Minister’s announcement was thus well within the provisions of the G.O. The Srisailam reservoir received 2,19,368 cusecs on Sunday. Officials said if the inflows continued at the current rate, Srisailam would reach 885 ft within 10 days.
G Venkataramana RaoVIJAYAWADA, JULY 24, 2018 00:17 IST
UPDATED: JULY 24, 2018 00:17 IST
SHARE ARTICLE 0PRINTA A A
State issues GO reducing level from 854 feet
With the water level in the Neelam Sanjeeva Reddy Srisailam Reservoir still 6.5 feet below the erstwhile magic figure or 854 feet, Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu’s announcement that water would be released to the Pothireddypadu head regulator came as a surprise to many. The announcement is not as arbitrary as it may appear though.
The Rajasekhara Reddy government issued an order saying water from the Srisailam dam should not be drawn until the level reached 854 ft. According to the G.O., if the level fell below it, A.P. could not draw water for its Rayalaseema projects through Pothireddypadu.
No consensus
After bifurcation, the two States could not arrive at a consensus and began drawing water well before the level had reached the magic figure.
Last October, the Telangana government withdrew from the agreement to wait for 854 ft before drawing water. Irrigation Minister T. Harish Rao wrote to the Centre that it withdrew “its consent to maintain the water level in Srisailam at 854 ft”.
The A.P. government however upstaged Telangana by issuing a G.O. dated February 23, 2017 and reducing the level for drawing water from the head regulator to 841 ft. It even sanctioned ₹17 crore to widen the approach channel of the regulator to draw water at that level.
2 lakh cusecs received
The Chief Minister’s announcement was thus well within the provisions of the G.O. The Srisailam reservoir received 2,19,368 cusecs on Sunday. Officials said if the inflows continued at the current rate, Srisailam would reach 885 ft within 10 days.
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