Just hours before the Telangana elections, tensions arose between Andhra Pradesh and Telangana as Andhra Pradesh took control of the Nagarjuna Sagar Dam and started releasing water. In the early hours of Thursday, approximately 700 Andhra Pradesh police officers entered the project and opened the right canal to release 500 cusecs of Krishna water per hour. The move occurred during a time when most Telangana officials were preoccupied with the elections.
Andhra Pradesh state irrigation minister, Ambati Rambabu, posted a mysterious message on Thursday morning, stating, “We are releasing water from Nagarjunasagar right canal on Krishna river for the drinking water purposes.” However, he later clarified that they were only taking water that rightfully belonged to their state according to the treaty between Andhra Pradesh and Telangana. Mr. Rambabu emphasized that they had not violated any treaty and that 66% of Krishna water belonged to Andhra Pradesh, while 34% belonged to Telangana. He insisted that they had not used any water that did not belong to them and were simply trying to open their canal within their territory.
The escalating tensions prompted the intervention of the Central government, which urged both states to revert to the release of Nagarjuna Sagar waters as of November 28. Union Home Secretary Ajay Bhalla proposed this during a video conference with Telangana and Andhra Pradesh, and both states agreed to the plan. In order to prevent further conflict, the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) will now supervise the dam and ensure that both sides receive water as per the agreement.
The incident came to light when Telangana Chief Secretary Santhi Kumari accused approximately 500 armed policemen from Andhra Pradesh of damaging CCTV cameras and releasing around 5,000 cusecs of water by opening the head regulators located at gate number 5 and 7 of the Nagarjuna Sagar Dam. Two cases were registered against the Andhra Pradesh police in Nalgonda district of Telangana.
This is not the first time such a situation has occurred. In 2015, the Andhra Pradesh police attempted to enter the dam, but Telangana security forces swiftly responded and prevented their actions.
