Hyderabad, June 24: The Chief Minister's Office of Telangana announced on Wednesday that Chief Minister Revanth Reddy has formally urged the Central Government to intervene in securing Telangana's rightful share of Tungabhadra waters and to coordinate with partner states for their effective utilisation. The announcement followed a high-level review chaired by CM Revanth Reddy at Jalasoudha, the state's irrigation headquarters in Hyderabad.

Context

The Chief Minister's Office stated that Telangana is entitled to 15.9 TMC (thousand million cubic feet) of water from the Tungabhadra Dam and river flows as a matter of right, but actual receipts have reportedly fallen to five to six TMC — a shortfall that CM Revanth Reddy described as a serious concern. The deficit directly affects the Rajolibanda Diversion Scheme (RDS), which is meant to irrigate 83,987 acres of ayacut across approximately 75 villages in Jogulamba Gadwal district.

The review meeting at Jalasoudha was attended by Ministers Uttam Kumar Reddy and Jupally Krishna Rao, MP Dr. Mallu Ravi, Government Advisors AP Jithender and Aditya Nath Das, along with senior officials of the Irrigation Department.

Policy Backdrop

The Tungabhadra Board, a statutory body under the Central Water Commission (CWC), oversees the operation and maintenance of the shared Tungabhadra project among Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, and Karnataka. CM Revanth Reddy urged that the Tungabhadra Board be strengthened under CWC leadership to ensure efficient utilisation of water shares by all three states. The original allocation framework traces back to the Krishna Water Disputes Tribunal award of 1976, and Telangana has been pressing for its due share since the 2014 bifurcation of Andhra Pradesh.

Officials also flagged that the RDS anicut has become structurally unsafe, and CM Revanth Reddy directed that safety-related works be identified and treated as urgent priority. The Telangana government has already deposited Rs. 59 crore for modernisation of the Rajolibanda Diversion Canal, but works remain incomplete. Officials informed the Chief Minister that Packages 1 and 2 of the modernisation works are yet to begin, while Packages 3 and 4 have been completed.

A 2004 expert committee had recommended desilting of the Tungabhadra reservoir on the Telangana side. Those recommendations remain unimplemented to date. Engineers at the review noted that heavy siltation on the Telangana-facing side of the RDS has severely restricted water diversion. Since the silt-affected land lies in Karnataka, the Chief Minister decided to seek that state's cooperation for desilting operations.

Stakeholders and Impact

The most immediate impact is felt by farmers across 75 villages in Jogulamba Gadwal district whose 83,987 acres of irrigated land depend on RDS flows. Reduced Tungabhadra diversions have left these farmers with inadequate water for their crops, threatening livelihoods in one of Telangana's agriculturally significant districts.

CM Revanth Reddy also directed officials to explore alternatives to maximise water use through the Tungabhadra Lift Irrigation Scheme and instructed that the capacity of the Mallammakunta Balancing Reservoir — critical for utilising flows from Tummilla — be enhanced at the earliest.

What's Next

The Chief Minister decided that the stalled Packages 1 and 2 works, the desilting issue, and the implementation of the 2004 expert committee recommendations will be raised prominently at a tripartite meeting scheduled for the following day under the chairmanship of the Union Jal Shakti Minister, involving the Chief Ministers of Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, and Karnataka. The Irrigation Department has been instructed to prepare a comprehensive report analysing the ground situation against the 2004 committee's findings. A formal representation will also be submitted to the Central Government seeking immediate desilting action and implementation of pending technical recommendations.