Banakacharla project: TG lodges plaint with Jal Shakti Minister against AP
New Delhi/Hyderabad: Telangana Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy and Irrigation Minister N Uttam Kumar Reddy on Thursday lodged a complaint with Union Jal Shakti Minister CR Patil against Andhra Pradesh and warned of legal action if the AP government failed to halt the controversial Banakacharla project.
During the meeting with the Union Minister, the Chief Minister requested him to reject the pre-feasibility report of the Godavari-Banakacharla project proposed by the AP government. He asserted that the proposed Banakacharla project was against the interests of Telangana and that AP envisaged the project contrary to the provisions of the Godavari Water Disputes Tribunal-1980 (GWDT) and the Andhra Pradesh Reorganisation Act-2014.
The Chief Minister pointed out that AP claimed the Banakacharla project would utilize flood waters of Godavari, but there was no mention of flood waters or surplus waters in GWDT-1980. According to the 2014 AP Reorganization Act, if a new project is to be built in any of the two states, it must first be discussed and approved by the Godavari River Management Board, the Central Water Commission (CWC) and the Apex Council headed by the Jal Shakti Minister and the Chief Ministers of the two states, CM Revanth Reddy pointed out and added that AP violated all these important aspects and was going ahead with the project. The AP government's claim that it undertook the project based on flood waters was wholly objectionable because no such rule was permitted, the Chief Minister said.
Further, Revanth Reddy brought to the notice of CR Patil that AP took up Purushothapatnam, Venkatanagaram, Pattiseema and Chintalapudi Lift Irrigation Projects under Polavaram by utilizing flood waters without obtaining permission from the Technical Advisory Board in the CWC and claimed no violation of the regulations in the construction of the Polavaram project.
Revanth Reddy and Uttam Kumar Reddy also told CR Patil that the Telangana government was ready for talks to discuss lifting of water to Penna basin by linking Icchampally–Nagarjuna Sagar, which could be funded by the Centre, instead of Polavaram–Banakacharla, if the AP really believed that there was flood water in the Godavari. They also pleaded with the Union Minister to ensure that the Krishna Water Disputes Tribunal-2 verdict was issued soon. The Jal Shakti Minister was requested to issue a No Objection Certificate (NOC) for Telangana to utilize 1,000 TMC of water from river Godavari and 500 TMC of Krishna water -- a total of 1500 TMC -- with the approval of the Union government. Stating that 1,500 TMC of water would provide irrigation to 1.50 crore acres in Telangana, the Chief Minister said that his government would not oppose the AP projects if their demands were met.
The Chief Minister decried that the Centre was granting permissions to the projects taken up by the Andhra Pradesh government expeditiously, while neglecting Telangana's projects. He requested the Centre to grant all permissions, along with water allocations, to the Palamuru-Ranga Reddy, Sammakka-Sarakka and Thummidihetti projects.
Allocation of central funds to the Musi rejuvenation project was also discussed at the meeting. The Chief Minister appealed to Patil to consider the state government's request for funds and release them just as the Centre supported Ganga and Yamuna cleaning projects.
Speaking to newsmen after the meeting, Uttam Kumar Reddy said that the Union Minister responded positively to the requests made by the CM and him. The Union Minister also clarified that his ministry had not received the DPR related to Banakacharla and assured that the Apex Council meeting would be held soon.
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