Hyderabad: The Krishna River Management Board (KRMB) has allocated 10.26 thousand million cubic feet (tmc ft) to Telangana and four tmc ft to Andhra Pradesh from the available water in the Srisailam Dam and Nagarjunasagar to meet the drinking water requirements of both the states.A three-member committee of the KRMB held a meeting on May 5, which was attended by Telangana irrigation officials. They submitted the water requirements of the state, while AP officials could not attend the meeting due to prior commitments.The allocations were made after considering the available 16.97 tmc ft of water in both the reservoirs. Two tmc ft of water was kept as cushion to meet unforeseen drinking water needs until sufficient inflows are received in the common reservoirs, the KRMB said.The water release order issued on Thursday stated that both states have to utilise the water judiciously and it should be released from the dams preferably through powerhouses to derive power generation benefits. “The water release should begin from Thursday (May 22), ensuring the release of 5,500 cusecs continuously through the NSP right main canal until the quantity of 4 tmcft is released for AP. The Srisailam reservoir should be operated in such a way that the water requirements of Telangana are met from the reservoir and a minimum water level of 800 feet should be maintained until July 31,” the order said.The Board stated that the chief engineers of both states were responsible for the judicious delivery of water and it should be reported to the KRMB invariably as a joint statement by both the state govt officers and engineers-in-chief of Telangana and AP to ensure that the water release and delivery was utilised for the purpose for which the water was released.Regarding the situation, the KRMB said that considering the water availability of the minimum draw down level (MDDL) of both reservoirs (800 feet in Srisailam and 510 feet in Nagarjunasagar) was only 10 tmc ft, it was not possible to meet the drinking water requirements of both states. In view of the urgency and need, the KRMB decided to release water in Nagarjunasagar until 505 feet instead of 510 MDDL and 800 feet in Srisailam.