AP Asks NIH to Study Water Availability in Krishna Basin.

As its dispute with the Telangana government over sharing of Krishna water escalates, the Andhra Pradesh government has decided to first study the availability of water in the reservoirs of the river to forcefully present its case before the Krishna Water Disputes Tribunal to get its rightful share of water.

The state government recently entrusted the National Institute of Hydrology (NIH), Roorkee, with the work of examining the availability and flow of water in reservoirs in the Krishna Basin. It granted administrative approval and permission to entrust the consultancy work for carrying out ‘Project-wise water availability and integrated operation analysis of major projects in the Krishna Basin’ for `85.15 lakh to the NIH, Roorkee.

In a GO issued recently, it said that as per the AP State Reorganisation Act, 2014, the term of Krishna Water Disputes Tribunal (KWDT-2) was extended with terms of reference that the KWDT-2 would make project-wise specific allocation, if such allocations had not been made by a tribunal constituted under the Inter-State River Water Disputes Act, 1956. It further stated that KWDT-2 would determine an operational protocol for project-wise release of water in the event of deficit flows.

'While reviewing the case, AP government’s senior counsel AK Ganguly said that in order to put forth state’s claims before the tribunal and to project the case of AP, it was essential to conduct a study with an independent agency like NIH, Roorkee to examine the availability of flows at each project and the performance of the said project against its allocation without adversely affecting the interests of the projects downstream,' the GO said.

According to the order, an integrated river basin study considering the entire Krishna Basin as a unit, duly considering the conditions and restrictions imposed by KWDT-1 & KWDT-2, has to be made.

The AP government, after careful examination of the matter, accorded permission to entrust the consultancy work for carrying out 'project-wise water availability and integrated operation analysis of major projects in Krishna Basin to the NIH, the GO explained.


THE NEW INDIAN EXPRESS