HYDERABAD: The Telangana government has requested the Ministry of Jal Shakti to either revise the agenda for Wednesday’s meeting of chief ministers of Telangana and Andhra Pradesh or defer any discussion on the AP government’s proposed Polavaram-Banakacherla link project until all statutory requirements, interstate consultations and clearances are fully complied with and all objections resolved. It also requested inclusion of the items proposed by it in the agenda for the meeting.
Any discussion on AP’s project was “premature and untenable”, Chief Secretary K Ramakrishna Rao said in a letter to the Secretary of Jal Shakti.
Jal Shakti Minister CR Patil has convened a meeting in Delhi on Wednesday with chief ministers of Telangana and AP, A Revanth Reddy and N Chandrababu Naidu, and to discuss river water issues. The AP government submitted Polavaram-Banakacherla as an agenda item. Telangana has objected to a discussion on AP’s project “at this juncture”.
There is no clarity on whether the Jal Shakti Ministry will drop the Banakacherla item from the agenda or not. If the ministry does not drop it, Revanth might stage a walkout from the meeting after registering his dissent, sources said. However, he is expected to make his stand crystal clear on all irrigation-related issues of the state before walking out, the sources added.
Meanwhile, the chief secretary in his letter said: “Given the unresolved and substantive objections of the Polavaram Project Authority (PPA), Godavari River Management Board (GRMB), Central Water Commission (CWC), and the Expert Appraisal Committee (EAC), the lack of statutory clearances, and the ongoing violations of binding legal provisions and tribunal awards, it is unequivocally premature and procedurally untenable to discuss the Godavari-Banakacherla Link Project at this stage. Proceeding otherwise would undermine the authority of the Government of India’s own regulatory mechanisms and set a precedent contrary to the rule of law.”
“The government of Telangana appreciates the initiative to address inter-state water issues. However, we must formally place on record our objections to the inclusion and discussion of the Godavari-Banakacherla (Polavaram-Banakacherla) Link Project at this juncture, and request that the agenda be revised accordingly,” Ramakrishna Rao said in the letter to the Secretary of the Ministry of Jal Shakti on Monday.
Telangana conveyed its objections, says CS
The copy of the letter was released to the media on Tuesday. The chief secretary further said: “The Telangana government repeatedly communicated certain objections regarding AP’s link project. The project violates the Godavari Water Disputes Tribunal Award of 1980 and the Andhra Pradesh Reorganisation Act, 2014 by proposing to alter water allocations and project operations without mandatory consultation and consent of all co-basin states.”
The project lacks statutory clearances from the Central Water Commission (CWC), Godavari River Management Board (GRMB), Krishna River Management Board (KRMB), and the Apex Council, all of which are required under the AP Reorganisation Act, 2014 and the GWDT Award, he added.
The Pre-Feasibility Report (PFR) submitted by Andhra Pradesh contains critical data gaps and methodological deficiencies, specifically regarding water availability assumptions and technical feasibility. The EAC of the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEF&CC) has rejected the project proposal, citing violations of legal and procedural requirements, and the project has not obtained environmental clearance, Ramakrishna Rao pointed out.
The proposal for diversion of 200 tmcft of floodwaters from Polavaram is unilateral, fundamentally alters the operation schedule of the project and impacts the water rights of Telangana, he said. The parent Polavaram project itself faces unresolved submergence issues in Odisha and Chhattisgarh, which remain sub judice, making any linked diversion proposal premature.
The project threatens Telangana’s rightful share of Godavari water, especially for drought-prone regions, and undermines equitable management of interstate river waters.
The chief secretary also recalled in his letter the requests made by the Telangana government earlier. The Central Water Commission should be directed to reject the Pre-Feasibility Report of the Polavaram-Banakacherla Link Project. Andhra Pradesh be prevented from submitting a Detailed Project Report (DPR) or taking any further action, including awarding tenders, on this project.
Telangana also requested that the project should not be discussed or approved at any forum until all statutory clearances, inter-state consultations, and objections are fully resolved, in accordance with the law and tribunal awards.
The chief secretary also recalled the recent objections raised by the Polavaram Project Authority (PPA) and GRMB on Banakacherla such as: The proposed diversion of 200 tmcft from Polavaram is not part of the approved DPR. Any such diversion requires comprehensive study on water availability, interstate implications, and strict compliance with tribunal awards.
The GRMB stated that the diversion alters the scope and operation schedule of the Polavaram project, governed by the 1980 GWDT Award and the interstate agreement of 2 April 1980, the letter mentioned.
The CWC raised fundamental questions on water availability assumptions in the pre-feasibility report, requiring that the dependability of the proposed diversion be computed only after accounting for all existing, ongoing, and planned utilisations and allocations as per GWDT for all co-basin states, he recalled.
Thus, the project violates the tribunal award, AP Reorganisation Act, environment clearance procedures, the chief secretary said.