The Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) has accused the Congress government and Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy of keeping quiet about Andhra Pradesh’s withdrawal of Krishna water in excess of its share under the existing ad hoc arrangement pending finalization of shares by the Krishna Disputes Tribunal (KWDT-II).
BRS floor leader in the Assembly and former minister T. Harish Rao said here on Tuesday (February 10) that the issue of excessive use of water by AP beyond the agreed share was proved by the Telangana chief engineer’s letter to the Krishna River Management Board (KRMB) dated January 28.
Citing the contents of the letter, Mr. Harish Rao against the agreed water share of 66:34 (AP:Telangana) AP was to withdraw only 2.45 tmc ft of water from Srisailam and Nagarjunasagar reservoirs on January 27. Addressing a press conference, he said that in this water year (2025-26), AP has so far drawn 664 tmc ft of Krishna water, which is 16 tmc ft more and this is more than 80% share against its claim of 66%.
The BRS leader explained that a letter written by KRMB Member-Secretary to ENC AP in response to Telangana’s letter to the board on February 6 stated that on January 29, AP had utilized 79.21% and Telangana only 20.79% against their agreed provisional shares of 66 and 34 respectively. The letter pegged AP’s water withdrawal at 555.5 tmc ft as on January 31 against 156.04 tmc ft.
According to the river board, the drawdown shares were 78.07% and 21.93% respectively by AP and Telangana as on January 31. Thus, the huge surplus of water from the AP side clouded the prospects of growing crops under lift irrigation systems, including Kalwakurtha based on water from the Srisailam reservoir and the Left Canal project under Nagarjunas.
Mr. Harish Rao alleged that Mr. Revanth Reddy was paying ‘guru dakshina’ to his AP counterpart and political mentor N. Chandrababu Naidu by allowing the neighboring state to draw Krishna water indiscriminately. He further alleged that the Telangana government kept the post of ENC, which will look into the issue of river water utilization, vacant about a week after the retirement of Mohd. Amjad Hussain January 29.
He also accused the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led Center of doing injustice to Telangana by favoring AP in the matter of river water use despite two Union Ministers from Telangana. He demanded that the state government should immediately stop the pumping of water by AP and transfer the unused water of this year to the next water year, otherwise BRS will not remain silent and will stage a protest at the KRMB office if necessary.
Published – 10 Feb 2026 21:14 IST