E-Paper
SC stays NGT panel’s fine on Telangana irrigation project
The SC ruled that the Telangana government could go ahead with the construction works on the irrigation project, but only for the drinking water component aimed at diverting 7.15 tmc (thousand million cubic feet) of water from the Krishna river
Hyderabad
The Supreme Court on Friday granted a stay on the National Green Tribunal order imposing a penalty of ₹920 crore on the Telangana government for allegedly violating environmental norms in the construction of Palamuru Rangareddy Lift Irrigation Scheme (PRLIS) on the Krishna river at a cost of ₹35,200 crore, people familiar with the matter said.
A two-member bench of the Supreme Court comprising Justice Sanjeev Khanna and Justice M M Sundaresh also ruled that the Telangana government could go ahead with the construction works of the PRLIS, but only for the drinking water component aimed at diverting 7.15 tmc (thousand million cubic feet) of water from the Krishna river.
On December 24, 2022, the NGT, which heard a batch of petitions filed by several farmers from Andhra Pradesh, ordered that the Telangana government pay ₹528 crore as environmental compensation for continuing the project works on PRLIS, besides ₹300 crore as penalty, apart from another ₹92 crore fine for violating environmental norms in Dindi project, which is part of the PRLIS.
The NGT directed that the state government deposit the total amount of ₹920 crore with the Krishna River Management Board in three months. The Telangana government challenged the NGT order in the Supreme Court soon after receiving the NGT order in December itself.
Senior advocate Mukul Rohatgi, arguing on behalf of the Telangana government, submitted that the government was only going ahead with works meant for providing drinking water through the Mission Bhagiratha in the erstwhile districts of Mahbubnagar and Nalgonda. He said that five reservoirs were being constructed for drinking water purposes and the first reservoir was spread over 24,000 acres
However, counsel for Andhra Pradesh Jaideep Gupta argued that though only 7.15 tmc of water was required for drinking water component, the Telangana government was going ahead with irrigation works towards which it has finalised bids for lifting and pumping around 90 tmc water without environmental clearances.
The bench sought to know how the Telangana government could say that the project was only for drinking water when it is specifically mentioned that it was for irrigation and drinking water purposes.
After hearing the arguments, the bench said it was allowing the works only for the drinking water component as it did not want the people to suffer from lack of drinking water.
The bench issued notices to all the respondents and directed all the respondents to file counter affidavits within six weeks. The bench said that the next hearing will be held in August.
