Krishna water may be released after March 15: PWD

A senior official from the department said, “The only contention is that the farmers in Andhra Pradesh require water for cultivation. Only after the harvest, they will be able release the water. Their current water level storage stands at 12 thousand million cubic feet (tmcft). They are supposed to release the water after their storage level raises upto 8 tmcft. But it is tough to strictly adhere to it owing to various unknown factors.” Representatives from five states — Maharashtra, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Telengana and Tamil Nadu — took part in the meeting in the presence of Central Water Commission to discuss water allocation.

Under the Krishna water supply project, the Krishna water is supposed to be supplied from January to April and July to October. According to it, the city must receive 4 tmcft of water between January and April. “This time, we can even extend into April. But everything depends upon their water situation. We can improve the situation before this summer with the supply of Krishna water from the Kandaleru reservoir,” the official added.

Currently, the maintenance works including desilting of canal is being carried out. Under the Telugu Ganga Project, the city receives 8 tmcft of Krishna water between July and October.

As part of it, the water from Srisailam reservoir is diverted to Somasaila reservoir. On reaching the required storage level, water will be directed to Kandaleru reservoir.