HYDERABAD : Bowing to pressure from within the Congress and other political parties, the Government has reportedly decided to divert Krishna water to Rayalaseema from the Pothireddypadu head regulator only after meeting the requirements of Telangana and coastal Andhra.

Accordingly, it has proposed three amendments to the G.O. No. 170 which raised a huge political controversy by seeking to increase the discharge capacity of the head regulator from 11,000 to 40,000 cusecs. The order, which was issued on September 10, was widely opposed on the ground that it sought to divert water to Rayalaseema in the name of `using flood waters alone' of the Krishna.

YSR's directive

Sources said Chief Minister Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy has ordered the circulation of the file providing for these changes ahead of an all-party meeting on Pothireddypadu on December 21.

As for the amendments, the GO No. 69, which was issued in 1996 fixing priorities for utilisation of Krishna water from Srisailam, will be incorporated into the GO No 170. As stipulated by GO No 69, a minimum storage will be maintained in Srisailam and the priorities will be: 1) meeting drinking water needs of Hyderabad and Chennai, 2) irrigation requirements of Krishna delta and 3) generation of power at Nagarjunasagar.

Word replacement

The second amendment seeks to replace the words `to assure' (irrigation facility to Rayalaseema) with `to enable'. This makes a crucial difference that the diversion of water to Rayalaseema would not be matter of right.

The third amendment alters the G.O. to the effect that the drawals to Rayalaseema will be allowed only after meeting the irrigation requirements of Krishna delta.

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