With the AP High Court instructing, the authorities not to release water from the Srisailam dam below 834 feet (the current water level is 790 feet) and from Nagarjunasagar dam below 510 feet (the current level is 510.9), the farmers of Krishna Delta are distressed. Mr Y. Nagendranath, convenor, Krishna Delta Parirakshana Samiti, an all-party organisation of farmers said, “We cannot keep quiet; it is a question of survival, we will move the AP High Court and seek justice.”
The government is also in a fix with the latest orders of the AP High Court. The government had earlier promised to ensure supplies to the Krishna delta as well as to fulfil Hyderabad’s drinking water needs from Nagarjunasagar. It had proposed to release dead storage waters of Srisailam into Nagarju-nasagar and had wanted to release the water from Nagarjunasagar dam for Krishna delta and for Hyderabad’s water requirements while maintaining the level at the Nagarjunasagar dam at 510 feet. “We will approach the High Court to seek justice not only for Krishna Delta but also for power generation at the Vijayawada Thermal Power Station,” said Mr Nagendranath.
A minimum level of 12 feet should always be maintained at Prakasam barrage in order to ensure water supply for the power generation units at Ibrahimpatnam. “Paddy cultivation cannot depend on untimely and uncertain rains, there have been occasions earlier wherein the government has released water from the NS dam much below the 510-feet level,” he added. It is not possible for the government to maintain the level at 510 feet and ensure supply to city as long as the Nagarj-unasagar dam doesn’t receive water from Srisailam.
“The real problem has just started, we are short of 186 TMC ft of water so far this season. There are no rains in upstream Narayanapur, Tungabhadra and Almatti,” said a senior irrigation official of Srisailam dam. “We have not received any orders from the AP High Court so far on maintaining the Srisailam level; we will honour the orders once we receive them,” he said