In a late-night operation, the Andhra Pradesh government reportedly took over half of the Nagarjunasagar Dam on the Krishna river, and released water to its side. As per reports, Andhra Pradesh now ‘occupies’ half of the dam and has barricaded the occupied half.
Andhra Pradesh and Telangana governments have been fighting over this dam since Telangana state came into existence in 2014.
The incumbent government under CM K Chandrasekhara Rao has complained to the Krishna River Management Board, the authority responsible for the management and water flow of the dam between the two states.
As per reports, in a dramatic move, about 400 police personnel were sent with a group of irrigation officials in a midnight operation to ‘occupy’ half of the dam. They took control of 18 of the 36 gates of the dam. Upon learning of the move, when some Telangana officials arrived with local cops, they were told that the Andhra police personnel and the irrigation officials were there on orders of the Jagan Mohan Reddy government. The Telangana cops then came back.
Ambati Rambabu, the minister of water resources in the Andhra Pradesh government, has shared a post on X, saying water will be released from the Nagarjunasagar dam to meet the drinking needs of the people of his state.
Reports have mentioned that AP officials were not allowing vehicles to pass without checking Aadhar cards and state addresses. A similar attempt at ‘occupying’ the dam was also made 3 years ago, but it was thwarted, Telangana officials have informed.
As of now, the Andhra Pradesh government has provided separate power lines for the regulator gates under their control. They are releasing 10,000 cusecs of water. The Telangana CM’s office has informed that the AP cops and officials have even damaged some CCTVs and broke down an automated gate at the dam. Telangana government is saying that Andhra officials must have planned for the operation for several weeks.
As per the Andhra Reorganisation Act, Telangana was given the control and supervision of the Nagarjunasagar Dam, while Andhra Pradesh was given the control ver the Srisailam Project. The Nagarjunasagar Dam and the Srisailam Project are joint storage facilities meeting the power generation, irrigation, and drinking needs of the 2 states.
