Telangana not to accept Andhra's Godavari-Banakacherla link project

Hyderabad, June 3 (IANS) The Telangana government will not accept the Andhra Pradesh government's proposed Godavari-Banakacherla link project under any circumstances, Irrigation Minister N. Uttam Kumar Reddy said on Tuesday.

He made it clear that Telangana is against the project and will never accept it.

Talking to media persons, the minister disputed the claim by the Andhra Pradesh leaders that they will use water going to waste into the sea.

Uttam Kumar Reddy said all efforts were being made to stop the Godavari-Banakacherla project. The Telangana government has written letters to the Godavari River Management Board (GRMB) and Union Jal Shakti Minister C.R. Patil.

He said that he directly spoke to the Union Minister to discuss the issue and urged him to stop the project. "We have conveyed our objections and we will respond at an appropriate time," he said.

Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu, during his separate meetings with Finance Minister Nirmala Sitaraman and Jal Shakti Minister Patil on May 23, submitted a proposal seeking the Centre’s project for the Polavaram-Banakalcherla link project.

The project aims to divert surplus water from the Godavari River to water-scarce areas in south-central Andhra Pradesh. It will use lift irrigation and tunnels to connect the regions in three phases.

The Chief Minister said that the project would benefit millions in drought-hit areas and serve as a model for river linking across India. The Detailed Project Report is expected this month.

Naidu stated that the Polavaram–Banakacharla link project, costing Rs 80,000 crore, will divert 200 TMC of water without affecting any other states. "Telangana too is building projects on the Godavari. Over the past 100 years, 2,000 TMC of water flowed into the sea. Our plan is to redirect 200 TMC of this surplus to drought-prone areas through this project, to be initiated upon Central approval," he said.

In April, Telangana Irrigation officials had opposed the project at the GRMB meeting.

Irrigation Secretary Rahul Bojja and other officials presented strong arguments before the GRMB against AP for taking up the Godavari-Banakacherla project without approvals and for violating Tribunal orders.

The officials told GRMB that, as per media reports, the G-B link scheme is a major project proposed with an estimated cost of Rs 80,112 crore. The plan involves diverting more than 200 tmcft from the Godavari River at Polavaram to Rayalaseema through the Bollapalli reservoir and Banakacherla head regulator. The proposal seeks to interlink the Godavari, Krishna and Penna rivers by expanding the Polavaram Reservoir Head Works against the Godavari Water Disputes Tribunal Award.

--IANS

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