Vijayawada: AP CM YS Jagan Mohan Reddy on Monday wrote a letter to Union Ministers Gajendra Singh Shekhawat and Prakash Javadekar amid the ongoing water dispute with Telangana. YS Jagan in his letter to Union Minister for Jalshakti Gajendra Singh Shekhawat about the alleged illegal withdrawal of water by Telangana to generate power from Srisailam, Nagarjuna Sagar and Pulichintala projects.

He urged the Ministry to intervene and take immediate action to protect the interests of the State against the ‘whimsical attitude’ of the Telangana Government. YS Jagan in a letter sought environmental clearance from Union Minister for Environment, Forest and Climate Change Prakash Javadekar to the proposed Rayalaseema Lift Scheme proposed by the State to supplement existing irrigation projects and supply drinking water to Chennai. The scheme does not involve land acquisition, forest area, Wildlife Sanctuary and is located beyond 10Kms of the ESZ, he said.

In his letter to Gajendra Singh Shekhawat, Jagan said Telangana started generating power from Srisailam reservoir from June 1^st even as the water levels are below the MDDL without raising any indent before the Krishna River Management Board (KRMB) although there is no irrigation requirement under Nagarjuna Sagar project and Krishna delta. YS Jagan said Telangana is not allowing water levels to be built up in Srisailam and utilized 19tmc water for power generation out of the 26tmc inflows since June 1^st.

In view of this adamant attitude of Telangana, reaching 854 ft water levels in Srisailam seems to be a herculean task, which is essential for drawing water through gravity for the schemes dependent on Pothireddypadu Head Regulator. This will cause severe stress to the chronically drought-prone Rayalaseema region, Nellore, Prakasam districts and also Chennai, as they depend on Srisailam reservoir for their drinking water and irrigation needs, he said.

The AP CM said that the power generation at Nagarjuna Sagar and Pulichintala projects is leading to water being released into the sea. The intention of Telangana is to deprive AP of its due share of allocated water, YS Jagan said and added that AP had earlier also lodged complaints over the Telangana leadership violating all established norms, principles and procedures in vogue.