Power tussle again

Vijayawada/Hyderabad: Andhra Pradesh and Telangana are once again locking horns over the issue of power generation at the Srisailam power project.

While the Water Resources Department of Andhra Pradesh on Friday requested the Krishna River Management Board to direct Telangana to immediately stop drawal of water from the Srisailam reservoir for power generation, the Telangana Genco said it will continue generating hydel power from the Srisailam left bank hydel power station.

In a letter to the KRMB chairman, AP engineer-in-chief (irrigation) C Narayana Reddy pointed out that since Telangana was generating hydel power at Srisailam, water was getting depleted in the project and also damaging the Kharif crop as water was released downstream. It could also affect future requirement of water for drinking and irrigation requirements, he said in the request letter sent to the KRMB.

But the Telangana officials maintained that the hydel power was being generated without violating any agreements or instructions given by the KRMB. The Telangana state was utilising river Krishna water with the approval of the board and the practice of generating power from the hydel plant was continuing since 2014, they said. "There is no question of excess water utilisation or the release of water in the downstream," a Genco official said, adding that the power generation authority, however, is ready to give a reply, if the board raised any objections.