Sagar dispute, KRMB silence flows
Reports say Andhra Pradesh drew ~2,000 cusecs from Nagarjuna Sagar’s right canal as Telangana opened 500 cusecs on the left for drinking water. The question is the paper trail — and the board Delhi runs still hasn’t shown one.
Water was released through both canals as questions over KRMB authorisation remained unanswered.
Andhra Pradesh and Telangana were back at it at Nagarjuna Sagar on August 26 — with water moving in both canals and the paperwork still missing in action.
According to same-day reports, AP officials opened about 2,000 cusecs into the right canal citing drinking-water needs, while Telangana released 500 cusecs into the left canal for the same reason. Telangana officials on site asked to see a Krishna River Management Board (KRMB) order; none was produced for them, they said. AP’s side reportedly claimed they had KRMB directions. The document did not appear in public with the claim. Police were deployed as a precaution, per the report.
What is solid today: both releases and the volumes reported. What is not: whether KRMB actually authorised the right-canal drawal, who signed what, and any claim of a physical scuffle — that last part is an allegation attributed to Telangana officials and has no independent corroboration in the record we could locate. A Telugu report the same day mirrors the numbers and says both states released water without KRMB permission; it does not publish an order either. Another local report details the left-canal draw to support drinking water, including an initial 500 cusecs potentially over four days, but again, no signed instruction is on the page.
KRMB’s own project brief confirms the right canal serves AP command areas and is designed for 11,000 cusecs — which is useful background and not a substitute for an authorisation. A recent KRMB meeting on utilisation was pushed to September 4, as reported, with no minutes on the table yet. If there was a fresh written go-ahead for August 26, KRMB can end the argument by publishing it. Until then, we have water in motion and a Delhi-run board that prefers opacity to ownership. Telangana asked to see the rulebook; the answer, so far, is trust us.