KRMB on pause, AP on play
As KRMB kicked the can to September 4, Andhra Pradesh opened Nagarjuna Sagar’s Right Canal. Telangana opened the Left to match. Harish Rao says AP is bypassing approvals; AP officials say KRMB okayed it. The KRMB paper that settles it is still missing.
Both canals opened as the regulator deferred its decision to September 4.
The Krishna River Management Board (KRMB) regulates releases from Srisailam and Nagarjuna Sagar under the AP Reorganisation Act. Its three‑member committee met, argued over utilisation and Pothireddypadu, and then deferred a decision to 4 September, prioritising drinking water for now, according to a report of the meeting.
While the referee is still writing the rulebook for this round, Andhra Pradesh officials released about 2,000 cusecs into the Nagarjuna Sagar Right Canal, saying KRMB had permitted it. Telangana officials answered by opening the Left Canal with a similar quantity. A KRMB order authorising either side’s move has not been produced in public.
BRS leader T. Harish Rao says AP has been drawing from Srisailam and Nagarjuna Sagar “without proper indents or approvals from KRMB”, and has slammed the Congress government in Telangana for letting it slide. AP’s line is that permission exists. KRMB’s own annual report notes a stop‑gap working arrangement where each state may utilise its share anywhere “without affecting the rights of other State” — which makes the missing permission letter the whole question, not a footnote.
Here is what is on the record: KRMB is the regulator; the committee punted the decision to 4 September; AP opened the Right Canal and Telangana matched it on the Left; AP claims KRMB said yes; Harish Rao says it did not. What the Congress‑led governments — in Amaravati and in Hyderabad — have not done yet is show the KRMB proceedings that prove their version. The BJP‑led Centre’s Board could also publish the authorisation instead of leaving two states to play canal chicken.