V V Balakrishna By

HYDERABAD: Will your dip in river Krishna in Andhra Pradesh, barring a 63-km stretch, be really a Pushkar bath? With the AP government diverting Godavari waters to Krishna basin through Pattiseema project, vedic pundits say taking a dip in AP will mean that you had a dip in Godavari waters rather than Krishna. This is an advantage to Telangana as it is expecting more number of pilgrims for the 12-day religious congregation across the banks of river Krishna in the state.

Krishna enters the Telugu states in Mahbubnagar district of Telangana and flows into AP.

But, if you take a holy dip in Krishna river down stream of Ibrahimpatnam in Krishna district, you will be compelled to take bath in Godavari waters.

As part of the inter-linking of rivers, the AP government diverted Godavari waters through Pattiseema project to Krishna river at Ferry village near Ibrahimpatnam in Krishna district. Around 1,000 cusecs of water is flowing from Godavari to Krishna daily.

Krishna river enters AP near Muktyala near Jaggaiaphet. The distance between Muktyala and Ferry, where Godavari joins Krishna is around 63 km. The water is available in Krishna river in this 63-km stretch.

So, pilgrims can prefer these spots. The distance between Ferry and Hamsaladeevi, the confluence of Krishna with the sea, is around 96 km. If pilgrims take the holy dip at any bathing ghat in the 96 km stretch, it will be a holy dip in Godavari waters instead of Krishna.

However, the AP government is campaigning that Ferry, where the Godavari joins Krishna, as holy confluence.

But, Telangana Brahmin Parishad objected to this. "Holy dip in Krishna Pushkarams means bathing in Krishna waters and not in Godavari waters. If the pilgrims have to take a holy dip in pure Krishna waters, they have to come to any ghat in Telangana including Huzurnagar, Mattampalli and Beechupally," opined Telangana Brahmin Parishat general secretary Pochampally Ramana Rao.

He said this is not a Telangana or AP conflict. But, the very purpose of Pushkarams would be attained when pilgrims take a holy dip in the particular river waters.

Both Telugu speaking states are spending crores of rupees for creating amenities to the pilgrims.

In the present scenario, the pilgrim rush is expected to be huge in Telangana during Krishna Pushkarams this time. Krishna river passes through only two districts - Mahbubnagar and Nalgonda - in Telangana state.

But, the water here is not mixed with any other river and pilgrims consider taking holy dip in Telangana would be ideal.

Though rivers in Godavari basin are receiving huge inflows, Krishna basin is yet to get inflows. Very little amount of water is reaching Jurala in Mahbubnagar district from upstream Karnataka. If the same trend continues for another month or so, the pushkar ghats in Telangana, barring a few, might not have enough water for the pilgrims to take a holy dip. In this scenario, people might prefer AP as Krishna river will have Godavari waters downstream Ibrahimpatnam.