Karnataka farmers’ opposition stalls Krishna water flow to T | Hyderabad News
Hyderabad: Ten days after Karnataka assured Telangana of 3 tmcft of Krishna water, not a drop has been released from the Almatti and Narayanpur reservoirs, with farmer protests in the neighbouring state effectively stalling the promised supply and worsening crop stress in parts of the erstwhile Mahbubnagar district.Farmer organisations in Karnataka’s Krishna basin districts have launched agitations against releasing water to Telangana, arguing that drought-hit regions in their own state should get priority. They warned the Karnataka govt against yielding to pressure from Telangana and threatened to intensify their protests if water is released for irrigation purposes.Akhanda Karnataka Raitha Sangha general secretary Aravind Kulkarni said farmers were strongly opposed to releasing water for irrigation in Telangana when several districts in Karnataka were facing acute scarcity. “Karnataka govt need not yield to pressures of Telangana govt. Telangana govt is creating hurdles for gazette notification to increase the height of Almatti dam from 519 metres to 524 metres. We have staged dharanas and are planning to hold meetings next in Muddebihal, Yadagiri and other places in seven districts,” he said.While Karnataka industries minister MB Patil has supported releasing a limited quantity of water on humanitarian grounds for drinking purposes, farmer leaders have maintained that any water supplied for irrigation would be opposed. “If Karnataka releases half or one tmc for drinking purposes, farmers won’t object. If it is released for agricultural usage, we will intensify the stir,” Kulkarni said.The protests have left Telangana waiting for the release promised during meetings held on September 23 and 24, when a delegation led by ministers Jupally Krishna Rao and Vakiti Srihari, along with MPs and MLAs, met Karnataka chief minister DK Shivakumar seeking 5,000 cusecs a day for 30 days. Karnataka had then agreed in principle to release 3 tmcft in phases.Krishna Rao said Karnataka was following a “10 days on, 10 days off” pattern in releasing water from its reservoirs, resulting in only seepage flows reaching Jurala when releases were made upstream. On the protests in Karnataka, Krishna Rao noted that all states were facing water stress due to deficient rainfall but expressed confidence that Karnataka would honour its commitment to release 3 tmcft.He said Telangana, too, was being forced to regulate supplies because of poor inflows caused by El Niño conditions and deficient rainfall. “Even from the Jurala project, the irrigation department is releasing water ‘five days on and five days off’ basis keeping in view of poor water inflows in the project due to El Niño impact,” he said.However, Telangana irrigation officials said no water had been released downstream from either Almatti or Narayanpur till Friday evening. With inflows failing to materialise, authorities have stopped releases through the Jurala project’s right and left canals and suspended operations of the Nettampadu, Kalwakurthy and Bhima lift irrigation schemes from Thursday evening.“Currently Jurala project, which is downstream of the Karnataka dams and gets water from the neighbouring state, has just 4.8 tmcft of water. The water will be used only for drinking water requirements of erstwhile Mahbubnagar district,” senior Jurala project officials said.Karnataka Rajya Raitha Sangha Vijayapura district president Sangamesh Sagar said the state should first secure water needs of its own drought-hit regions before considering Telangana’s demand. “The Karnataka govt should realise that Almatti dam was filled only after heavy rains in Maharashtra. It should first release water to lakes and streams of Karnataka, which is reeling under drought and ensure availability of water till the next rainy season,” he said.(Inputs from: Sangamesh Menasinakai from Vijayapura)
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