Naidu's Rs 82,000-cr Banakacherla project to link 3 river basins faces opposition from protégé Revanth
The Telangana CM has also requested Jal Shakti Minister C.R. Paatil to reject the pre-feasibility report submitted to the Central Water Commission by the Naidu administration to stop the project. Paatil may soon call meetings of the apex council, headed by him and including the chief ministers of the two states.
The Telugu sibling states are now feuding over Godavari flood water. The Chandrababu Naidu government has proposed an ambitious Godavari-Banakacherla link project, but Revanth Reddy has said it is 'against natural justice, interests, and water rights of people of Telangana'.
Hyderabad: Five years ago, it was Pothireddypadu, and now, Banakacherla. Despite friendly political and personal relations between then-chief ministers Jagan Mohan Reddy and K. Chandrasekhar Rao, and later their respective successors Chandrababu Naidu and Revanth Reddy, river water sharing continues to be the bone of contention between the Andhra Pradesh and Telangana governments, 11 years post the bifurcation.
Five years ago, then-minister of Jal Shakti Gajendra Singh Shekhawat convened apex council meetings to resolve the issue of the Pothireddypadu capacity expansion by the Jagan government. The Jagan administration, in a May 2020 order, allocated Rs 6,829 crore for the Rayalaseema Lift Scheme and the supporting canal system.
The expansion project aimed to draw three TMC (thousand million cubic feet) per day from the Pothireddypadu Head Regulator on the Srisailam reservoir. The then-KCR government had objected to the move, leading to the apex council meetings.
According to the 2014 AP Reorganisation Act, Telangana side says, any new project must first be discussed and approved by the Godavari River Management Board and the Central Water Commission.
Also Read: My phones were tapped: AP Congress chief Y.S. Sharmila accuses brother Jagan of colluding with BRS
What is the Banakacherla link
Andhra Pradesh CM Chandrababu Naidu envisaged the ambitious project linking the Godavari-Krishna-Penna basins during his previous term.
Resuming power after five years, Chandrababu Naidu, the leader of the Telugu Desam Party (TDP), the principal National Democratic Alliance (NDA) ally, reinitiated the project's planning last year and wrote to the Union finance ministry for financial support.
The Andhra government, which now plans to partly use the nearly 3,000 TMC of Godavari flood water running into the Bay of Bengal on average every year, proposed the river link from the Polavaram dam in north central Andhra to Banakacherla in the parched Rayalaseema region.
The project is important politically too for Naidu, as it could enhance the TDP's image in Rayalaseema, especially Kurnool and Kadapa regions which are a stronghold of YSRCP despite the losses it suffered there in 2024 elections.
The project, which includes building a 416 km network of open canals, pipelines and lifts to draw 200 TMC of flood water at two TMC per day during the Godavari flood season, is estimated to cost at least Rs 82,000 crore.
A detailed project report (DPR) is in the works for submission to the Centre for approval.
According to Andhra, the Godavari is flooded at Polavaram and downstream for 100 days minimum, every year, based on the figures of the last 50 years.
The project is envisaged in three segments. First, to draw the Godavari flood water to the Prakasam Barrage on River Krishna at Vijayawada. The second stage involves pumping the water up with six lifts to the proposed Bollapalli reservoir in the Palnadu district.
Senior Andhra Pradesh irrigation department officials told ThePrint that Bollapalli, located amid hills, serves as a natural reservoir for 173 TMC gross water storage when the necessary structures are built there. The final segment involves transferring the water from Bollapalli to Banakacherla, with three lift stations pumping up the water into two tunnels passing through the thick forested Nallamala Tiger Reserve.
A concept note that ThePrint has accessed shows power consumption figures for lifting the water against gravity in the last two segments are 2,379 MW and 1,413 MW respectively.
Existing already at Banakacherla is a three-way cross regulator complex, feeding the backwater of Krishna river drawn through the Pothireddypadu head regulator at the Srisailam reservoir into the Telugu Ganga canal (supplying drinking water to Chennai), the Srisailam Right Bank Canal, and the Kurnool-Cuddapah Canal.
'The 200 TMC Godavari flood water, would not only stabilise these systems already in place but also will allow us to bring 7.5 lakh acre under irrigation in the drought-prone Rayalaseema region, while also ensuring drinking water to lakhs of people,' said one Andhra Pradesh water resource department official.
What are Telangana's objections
Congress's Revanth Reddy is facing political heat over the Banakacherla project, with the opposition Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) led by former irrigation minister Harish Rao targeting the CM as 'a silent spectator to Andhra water loot'.
Harish Rao has expressed apprehensions over the possible project expansion claiming that Andhra plans to 'double the Banakacherla link capacity to 400 TMC' in the future. While accusing Naidu of opposing Telangana projects such as Kaleshwaram, Bhakta Ramadasu, and Palamuru-RangaReddy, Harish Rao alleged that Revanth Reddy was compromising the state's interests to protect his friendship with Naidu and as Guru Dakshina to Naidu.
Before joining the Congress, Revanth Reddy was a TDP MLA.
Under fire, the Revanth Reddy-led government convened a meeting of MPs from all parties Wednesday in Hyderabad to gather their support. The next day, CM rushed to New Delhi to fight against the Andhra Pradesh government project. Telangana has contended that Andhra Pradesh is unilaterally taking up the project, contravening the Godavari Water Disputes Tribunal-1980 (GWDT) and the Andhra Pradesh Reorganisation Act, 2014.
On Thursday, Revanth , accompanied by irrigation minister Uttam Kumar Reddy, submitted to C.R. Paatil that 'there is no mention of flood water or surplus water as per the GWDT'.
'Yet, Andhra Pradesh violated all these requirements to proceed with efforts to construct the project,' he complained to Paatil, according to a statement from the Telangana CMO.
While expressing his willingness to discuss and resolve issues amicably with Andhra Pradesh, Revanth has said that if his government did not find the Centre's response favourable, it would approach the Supreme Court.
Earlier this year, in January, Uttam Kumar Reddy wrote to Paatil, expressing concerns over Naidu's letters to Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, seeking financial assistance for the Godavari-Banakacherla Link scheme, with the same letters then forwarded 'to Secretary, Jal Shakti, for necessary action.
The Jal Shakti ministry, in turn, 'forwarded the letters to GRMB (Godavari River Management Board), the KRMB (Krishna River Management Board), and PPA (Polavaram Project Authority) seeking their inputs', Uttam said.
Last week, Uttam in another letter to Paatil, expressed the concern that the pre feasibility report of Andhra 'is deemed to have been approved.'
Speaking to reporters in Delhi Thursday, Uttam Kumar Reddy said the Jal Shakti minister responded positively to their concerns and assured them that he would convene an apex council meeting soon.
What are Andhra Pradesh's responses
Andhra Pradesh Water Resources Minister Nimmala Ramanaidu has stated that all necessary approvals, including from the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change of India (MoEFCC), will be taken for the Banakacherla link.
Andhra Pradesh is arguing that since it is the tail-end state among the Godavari flow states, 'it bears the maximum brunt of the mighty river's floods every year and bearing vast losses, it is only natural justice to use such flood waters for good use'.
'We only want to use the waters that otherwise drain into the sea, turning saline, of no worth to anyone. What is wrong in taking Godavari flood water to the Rayalaseema, one of the least rainfed areas in the country,' Nimmala has said.
The minister shared the example of the 2015 drought, when 'Godavari waters brought to Prakasam Barrage had to be transported in rail tankers for drinking water use in Anantapuramu (in Rayalaseema)'.
The TDP minister apparently retorted to the accusations by the BRS against Andhra Pradesh and Naidu, saying that KCR had initiated irrigation projects Kaleshwaram, Sitarama Sagar, and Palamuru-Rangareddy, among others, without any approvals from the Centre.
On Thursday, as matters precipitated, with the BRS continuing its tirade and the Telangana CM taking the issue to Delhi, CM Chandrababu Naidu responded: 'Why quarrel over water that flows into the sea if unused?'
'If legal clarity is required, we can discuss it with the Centre. Creating conflict over such usage is unreasonable. No one benefits from water disputes between us two states—it only misleads the public,' he said in a press conference at Amaravati.Chandrababu Naidu has said that the two states can avoid conflicts. Instead, he suggested amicably building projects according to their requirements and capacities and rationally using the precious water.
Meanwhile, Revanth Reddy, speaking to reporters after the Wednesday all-party meeting at the Telangana Secretariat, blamed his predecessor 'for paving the way for Banakacherla way back in 2016'.
The Telangana CM has disclosed the minutes of the apex council meeting held in New Delhi in September 2016. KCR, Harish Rao, Chandrababu Naidu, and then-irrigation minister of Andhra Devineni Umamaheshwara Rao attended the meeting, chaired by the then-minister of Jal Shakti Uma Bharti.
'The council meet, with KCR's participation, clearly stated the need for 1,000 TMC water to complete the ongoing and proposed projects on Krishna River, while noting that 3,000 TMC Godavari water was going unused, on the other hand,' pointed out the chief minister, in response to Harish Rao's attacks on him.
A senior official in Telangana said the opposition to Banakacherla is 'mostly political' but not unfounded. 'Yes, the project proposes to use flood waters, but what is the guarantee that Andhra will not draw regular water in the non-flood years?'
(Edited by Madhurita Goswami)
Also Read: 'Freeze seats or increase proportionately': Andhra CM Naidu limits Modi govt's delimitation options
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