The war of words between Sudan and Ethiopia on sharing Nile waters after the construction of the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) has intensified. 

Sudan has taken up the cudgels after it received a notification from Ethiopia over the second filling of the massive dam.

"The Irrigation and Water Resources Ministry received a letter from its Ethiopian counterpart notifying it has started the second filling of the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) during the current rainy season," Omar Al-Farouq Sayed Kamel, spokesman of the Sudanese government's team to the GERD talks, said in a statement as quoted by Xinhua news agency.

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The construction of the dam is a huge concern for Sudan and Egypt, which fear that the barrier may reduce their access to Nile waters for irrigation and drinking purposes.

Faced with a possible existential threat, sharing of Nile waters has become a hot button issue which the UN Security Council is expected to debate on Thursday.

Unsurprisingly, Kamel of Sudan rejected Addis Ababa's "unilateral move" which he described as a clear violation of the international law and stable exchange of benefits of common rivers, according to the Xinhua report.

Sudan says notice by Ethiopia on second filling of Nile dam useless

Ethiopia views the mega-dam– the largest hydroelectric power project in Africa –as the key to its future development. Earlier called Millennium Dam, GERD has been geared to produce 6.45 gigawatts of electricity. It has been under construction since 2011.

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