Telangana's Krishna water share remains underutilised

Metro India News | Hyderabad 

More than a decade after the formation of Telangana, concerns continue to be raised over the state's inability to fully utilise its allocated share of Krishna river waters. Water experts, engineers and Telangana activists argue that despite the demand for a fair share of water resources being a key plank of the Telangana movement, the state continues to lag behind while Andhra Pradesh draws a larger share of Krishna waters.

Under the arrangement reached after the bifurcation of Andhra Pradesh in 2014, Krishna river waters were to be utilised in a 66:34 ratio between Andhra Pradesh and Telangana. However, utilisation figures over the past 12 years show that Telangana has rarely reached its allocated 34 percent share, while Andhra Pradesh has often exceeded its 66 percent entitlement.

Data from 2014 to 2025 indicates that Andhra Pradesh utilised a cumulative 826.64 percent of Krishna waters, averaging 68.88 percent annually. Telangana's cumulative utilisation stood at 374.36 percent, averaging only 31.19 percent. This means Telangana has fallen short of its share by nearly three percentage points on average every year, while Andhra Pradesh has utilised nearly three percentage points more than its allocation.

The figures show that Telangana exceeded its allocated share only once during the period, recording 36.38 percent utilisation in 2023. In contrast, Andhra Pradesh crossed its share in several years and reached 74.90 percent utilisation in 2025, the highest during the 12-year period.

Critics allege that the situation has worsened after the formation of the new Congress government in Telangana. While Telangana's utilisation dropped to 28.27 percent in 2024 and further to 25.10 percent in 2025, Andhra Pradesh's utilisation increased to 72.73 percent and 74.90 percent respectively during the same period.

With forecasts suggesting the possibility of below-normal rainfall due to El Niño conditions and reservoir levels already under stress, experts have called on the Telangana government to take urgent steps to protect the state's water interests and ensure full utilisation of its allocated share of Krishna river waters.

Krishna Water Utilisation (%)

Year AP          TG

2014 69.92 30.08

2015 64.20 35.80

2016 64.81 35.19

2017 66.18 33.82

2018 67.30 32.70

2019 70.12 29.88

2020 71.71 28.29

2021 70.11 29.89

2022 71.04 28.96

2023 63.62 36.38

2024 72.73 28.27

2025 74.90 25.10