Bengaluru: Amid a severe drought that has seen 177 taluks declared drought-hit and a raging row with Tamil Nadu over Cauvery water release, Karnataka on Wednesday agreed to release 3 tmcft of Krishna water, in phases, to Telangana to protect standing crops in the neighbouring state.Chief minister D K Shivakumar agreed to release water from Narayanpur reservoir to Jurala project following a request from Telangana, which is facing an irrigation crisis in erstwhile Mahabubnagar district.Telangana had sought 5,000 cusecs of Krishna water daily for 30 days to protect crops spread across about 5.5 lakh acres under Jurala, Bhima, Nettempadu and Koilsagar projects.The decision followed a meeting between Shivakumar and a delegation led by Telangana ministers Jupalli Krishna Rao and Vakiti Srihari, along with public representatives from the region. They apprised him of the water shortage in Jurala command area and sought an immediate release to save standing crops.Telangana chief minister A Revanth Reddy thanked Shivakumar for responding to the request. “This is a great example of bonhomie between two different states and showcases the love and brotherhood of people of India,” Revanth said in a post on X.Telangana officials released water into Jurala right canal on Wednesday after rainfall in upstream areas increased inflows. The project recorded about 2,687 cusecs of inflow, allowing water to be released for irrigation. Jupally said the available water had to be used judiciously, particularly to meet drinking water requirements. He said about 3 tmcft of storage at Jurala was affected by silt.The decision has given Karnataka’s Opposition another issue to target the govt with, coming amid the special legislature session on the drought crisis. “When 177 taluks have been declared drought-hit, how can we afford to release water to another state, especially when there are predictions of a worse drought due to poor monsoon rainfall?” the BJP said.Karnataka has recorded a 36% rainfall deficit, with 642 mm of rain against the normal 852 mm. Deputy chief minister G Parameshwara has said the number of drought-hit taluks could rise to around 200 as further assessments are completed.
