Hyderabad: The Telangana irrigation department has written to the chairman of the Krishna River Management Board (KRMB) to prevent the Andhra Pradesh government from “illegally dumping tunnel waste in the Srisailam reservoir.”
In a letter, C Murlidhar, the Engineer in Chief of the irrigation department here, quoted a report by local newspaper Eenadu in which it was stated that the contractor of the Veligonda project was illegally dumping freshly excavated tunnel muck into the Srisailam reservoir at night.
The waste, allegedly stemming from the project tunnel works from Kothuru, Dornal Mandal in Prakasam district is being dumped along the banks of Krishna river towards Srisailam right bank. The Telangana government expressed concern that the already diminishing water in the reservoir would reduce further owing to the waste.
Further, the mixing of such hazardous waste (containing explosive compounds) could affect cultivation and drinking water requirements.
The Telangana government has sought KRMB to initiate action against the government of Andhra Pradesh and for the site in question to be inspected thoroughly.
Background of Krishna river dispute:
The two Telugu states have irrigation projects which need the Krishna river and as such, the water body has been a bone of contention since the formation of Telangana in 2014.
Telangana has been asking for a higher share since 2018. In August 2021, the KRMB held a meeting to discuss various issues with officials from both sides, but it ended in a stalemate.
Telangana officials were unsuccessful in convincing the KRMB to allocate more water for the state. Moreover, a gazette passed by the Central government last year made it clear that the KRMB will take up overall projects. In other words, the Centre will be in charge of all decisions related to the Krishna river.
