Hyderabad: Irrigation minister Uttam Kumar Reddy on Monday said the Telangana govt would approach the Karnataka govt for emergency releases of Krishna water if deficient rainfall continues and the drinking water situation worsens in the coming months. Citing the impact of El Niño on the monsoon, the minister said drinking water would receive priority over all other uses until next June.“If rainfall does not improve during Sept, Oct and Nov, we may have to manage with the available water until next July. Drinking water must therefore be given first priority, and every available source should be protected,” the minister said. He added that, in an extreme situation, the state could request the Karnataka govt to release Krishna water to meet its drinking water requirements. Officials were directed to continuously assess reservoir levels and prepare proposals well in advance, rather than waiting for the situation to become critical.Speaking at meeting on drought preparedness, drinking water availability, irrigation, agriculture, groundwater, electricity supply and Mission Bhagiratha infrastructure in the erstwhile Nalgonda district, along with minister Komatireddy Venkat Reddy and others, Uttam said El Niño could weaken the Indian monsoon even while causing excessive rainfall and floods in other parts of the world.He advised farmers not to take up water-intensive paddy cultivation in areas where irrigation supply, rainfall or groundwater availability was uncertain. Farmers dependent on borewells, he said, should first assess whether the available groundwater would sustain the crop until harvest. Agriculture and horticulture officials were directed to intensify field-level awareness programmes and encourage farmers to shift to crops that require less water.No NSP water for irrigationDuring the review meeting, officials said water from the Nagarjuna Sagar Project (NSP) could not be assured for irrigation under the prevailing conditions. Similarly, water supply from SRSP stage-II was ruled out for around 2.13 lakh acres. The Musi project, which had storage of about 3.2 TMC, is expected to provide three wettings until Oct 4. A fourth wetting could be considered only if sufficient inflows continue.
