KRMB urges Andhra Pradesh and Telangana to release funds due from 2024-25

HYDERABAD

The Krishna River Management Board (KRMB) has requested the member State Andhra Pradesh and Telangana to release funds against the approved budget of ₹23.32 crore for 2025-26 and 2024-25 since it has been facing acute financial crisis even in meeting the salary expenditure of the board secretariat.

In a letter addressed jointly to the Engineers-in-Chief (Irrigation/Water Resources) of the two States, the river board has pointed out that neither of the two States have released any funds for the past three quarters (April to December 2025). As a result, staff salaries were being paid by temporary diversion of available funds of ₹4.15 crore of Telangana meant for the installation of second-phase telemetry equipment.

The phase-one telemetry is under annual maintenance contract till March 31, 2027 but even the amount of ₹23.3 lakh required for the current financial year maintenance works was also yet to be provided by the member States. Of the 18 radar sensors installed in the first-phase, only 7 were found to be working satisfactorily but the remaining 11 in the lift irrigation schemes needed replacement of SLDCP (Side Load Doppler Current Profiler) and relocation.

For the second-phase, 14 locations were agreed for by the member States and additional 15 locations were proposed by the river board. Another 22 locations were also proposed by Telangana. It was decided in the phases that all the telemetry stations of phase-one and phase-two may be commissioned and the data collected be used for water accounting simultaneously by July 2019 itself.

However, the delay in commissioning the telemetry at all locations agreed in phase-two was yet to be completed as the six locations of lift irrigation schemes were dropped and additional four SLDCPs were proposed in place of originally agreed five, the data from phase-one too could not be put in use so far.

It has also pointed out that its current status on water regulation only has the secretariat role reduced to post-factor water use regularisation in the absence of handing over of projects as specified in the AP Reorganisation Act and lack of project-wise water allocation.

In the matter of phase-three telemetry, the board wrote that if the States chose to proceed they were required to have implicit trust in the ultrasonic technology ACDP (Acoustic DCP)/SLDCP for canal discharges.