Hours before the Telangana state polls, Andhra Pradesh at midnight of Thursday took control of the Nagarjuna Sagar Dam and started releasing water, leading to heightened tensions between the two states.
At approximately 2 am on Thursday, when Telangana officials were busy with the state polls, nearly 700 Andhra Pradesh police personnel entered the dam site and began the release of 500 cusecs of Krishna river water per hour through the right canal.
Andhra Pradesh State Irrigation Minister Ambati Rambabu took to X and wrote, "We are releasing water from Nagarjunasagar right canal on Krishna river for drinking water purposes."
However, he later clarified that the water released belongs to the state's rightful share as per the existing treaty between Andhra Pradesh and Telangana.
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"We have not flouted any treaty. 66% of Krishna water belongs to Andhra Pradesh and 34% to Telangana. We have not used even a single drop of water that does not belong to us. We tried to open our canal in our territory. This water is rightfully ours," Mr. Rambabu said during a media briefing.
Amid escalating tensions, the central government intervened, urging both states to revert to the Nagarjuna Sagar water release status as of November 28. The proposal, put forth by Union Home Secretary Ajay Bhalla during a video conference with Telangana and Andhra Pradesh, received agreement from both states. To prevent further conflicts, the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) will oversee the dam, ensuring that both sides receive water as per the agreed-upon terms.
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The incident was brought to light by Telangana Chief Secretary Santhi Kumari, who alleged that around 500 armed policemen from Andhra Pradesh entered the dam site damaging CCTV cameras, and released about 5,000 cusecs of water.
This action, she claimed, had the potential to disrupt the drinking water supply to approximately two crore people in Hyderabad and surrounding areas.
In response, two cases were registered against the Andhra Pradesh Police in Nalgonda district of Telangana.
Earlier in 2015, a similar incident had occurred when Andhra Police attempted to enter the dam, but Telangana security forces prevented the attempt.