Bengaluru: The Karnataka government’s attempts to construct a new balancing reservoir on the Tungabhadra causing concern to Telangana as the project is likely to adversely impact river flow into downstream states.
The construction of a new dam across the Tungabhadra River by Karnataka will adversely affect the flow of water in Telangana.
AIMIM party leader Akbaruddin Owaisi, during a debate in the Telangana state Assembly, on Tuesday, February 13, over the Krishna River and its management, urged the Telangana government to initiate action to stop it. He proposed a ‘Government Resolution’ related to the Krishna River.
In 2020, the then BJP government had planned to construct a balanced reservoir with a capacity of 50 TMC at Navali village in Koppal district after obtaining permission from the Center for the Bhadra Upper Bank Project. This is likely to harm the flow of water to the states downstream of Tungabhadra Dam.
Karnataka deputy chief minister D K Shiva Kumar while stating that the Tungabhadra Dam was silted announced that the government has prepared a plan to construct a balanced dam at Navali. “More than 30 TMC of water is being lost to the state due to this issue. Consequently, the construction of a balanced dam in Navali has already been discussed with the chief minister,” he said.
This project aims to alleviate water shortages for farmers in the area. Discussions regarding this project will involve the governments of Telangana and Andhra Pradesh, as all three states must collaborate to undertake this endeavour. Shiva Kumar stated that the project is slated for implementation in the next budget cycle.
The Center declared the Upper Bhadra project as a national project and decided to allot Rs 16,000 crore despite the fact that the project was designed in violation of verdicts of Krishna Water Disputes Tribunals (KWDT).
The Central Water Commission (CWC) cleared the Upper Bhadra project setting the objections of AP and Telangana aside as the BJP has high stakes in Karnataka, said sources.
An irrigation department senior officer told Siasat.com that about 31 tmc ft of silt is accumulated on the Tungabhadra reservoir bed resulting in a reduction of its storage capacity.
“We wanted to take up the balancing reservoir at Navali to store Tungabhadra water to overcome the silt-caused deficit in the amount of water allocated to Karnataka. This is not a new one but a long pending dream of Karnataka,” said the official.
At present, the Tungabhadra dam is silted up, and its capacity is considerably reduced. Thus, Karnataka Irrigation officials proposed to build a new dam for the Tungabhadra River in the Tungabhadra board meeting held in 2018.
Officials said that due to silt buildup over many years, the capacity of the dam has declined considerably, and it is impossible to remove the silt.
Tungabhadra Dam quenches the thirst of Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, and Karnataka. Telangana officials were of the view that Karnataka’s proposal could not be approved in the board meeting as it should be decided by the state governments.
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