PNS|Hyderabad
The Krishna Water Disputes Tribunal-II (KWDT-II) continued hearings on Thursday, with senior counsel CS Vaidyanathan, who presented arguments on behalf of Telangana, strongly advocating a revised approach to Krishna water allocations based on recent regional developments, evolving irrigation needs, and scientific assessments.
The Tribunal, chaired by Justice Brijesh Kumar along with Justices Ram Mohan Reddy and S. Talapatra, heard Telangana’s contention that significant parts of the Krishna Delta System (KDS), NSP Right Canal, and NSP Left Canal are now falling within the Capital Region Development Authority (CRDA) area. Since these urban and peri-urban zones no longer require irrigation water, Telangana argued that the quantum of water saved should be reallocated to drought-prone, inside-basin projects.
The Senior Counsel submitted that several areas under the NSP Right Canal can now be served through alternative sources, such as lift irrigation from the Pulichintala Project, freeing up additional allocations that could be diverted to Telangana’s arid interior.
Highlighting Andhra Pradesh’s approach over the past 11 years, Telangana said that AP has been prioritising outside-basin projects, often at the cost of justifiable demands within the basin. It was pointed out that AP’s storage in Pennar and other basins stands at approximately 360 TMC, which allows for usage up to 1.4 times that amount, and that the proposed Bollepalli Reservoir alone will have a storage capacity of 150 TMC.
The Tribunal was also presented with scientific evidence and methodologies by Dr Palanisami on behalf of Telangana, including a comparative study of crop water requirements.
The counsel stressed that actual irrigated areas have often exceeded the designed ayacut, particularly in AP, and called for water allocations to be based only on originally designed ayacut areas, and not the inflated figures.
