E-Paper
Central panel returns Andhra’s Polavaram project proposal
The Expert Appraisal Committee (EAC) of the environment ministry examined the preliminary project report submitted by the Andhra Pradesh government at its meeting on June 17
An expert committee of the Union ministry of environment, forests and climate change (MoEFCC) has returned the Andhra Pradesh government’s proposal on the ambitious Polavaram-Banakacharla Link Project, which aimed at diverting surplus Godavari river water to Pennar basin through the Krishna river.
The Expert Appraisal Committee (EAC) of the environment ministry, which examined the preliminary project report submitted by the Andhra Pradesh government at its meeting on June 17, rejected the proposal for conducting environment impact assessment (EIA). The minutes of the meeting were shared with the government on Monday.
According to the minutes of the meeting, seen by HT, the EAC pointed out that the environmental clearance for the Polavaram project, granted by the Centre on January 25, 2005, was resisted by Odisha and Chhattisgarh and as such the matter remains sub-judice.
Under these circumstances, the EAC said the proposal for Polavaram-Banakacharla project should comprehensively assess the availability of floodwaters in consultation with the central water commission (CWC).
“Furthermore, the EAC noted that several representations have been received via email, alleging that the proposed scheme may be in violation of the Godavari Water Disputes Tribunal Award, 1980,” it said.
The EAC suggested that the Andhra Pradesh government should approach the CWC for examining the inter-state issues and granting necessary clearance/permission before submitting the proposal for framing the terms of reference conducting environment impact assessment study. “Hence, the EAC decided to return the proposal,” it added.
A senior Andhra Pradesh irrigation department official said the state government will raise the issue at the apex council meeting of the Union Jal Sakthi ministry, to be held in New Delhi on July 11. “We shall pursue the Polavaram-Banakacharla project firmly,” the official said.
Neighbouring Telangana, which has been strongly opposing the project, claimed it was because of the relentless efforts by the state administration that the Centre has halted the Polavaram-Banakacharla project for now.
“It was only after chief minister A Revanth Reddy and I wrote several letters to the Centre and personally took up the issue with Union Jal Sakthi minister CR Patil, that the Centre put on hold the project,” Telangana irrigation minister N Uttam Kumar Reddy said on Tuesday. “The credit to stall the project entirely goes to our government.”
According to the preliminary project report submitted to the CWC on May 22 this year, the Polavaram-Banakacharla project, with projected cost of ₹81,900 crore, sought to divert 200 tmc (thousand million cubic feet) of Godavari water from Polavaram reservoir at the rate of 2 tmc per day during the 100 days of flood season in three stages.
In the first stage, the Godavari water would be taken up to Krishna in the upstream of Prakasam barrage near Vijayawada. From there, the water would be taken to Bollapalli reservoir proposed to be constructed in Prakasam district in the second phase through six lifts. Finally, it will be taken to Banakacharla cross regulator in Kurnool district of Rayalaseema region through three lifts and two tunnels in the third phase.
The project is aimed at creating a new command area of 741,000 acres and stabilising 2.259 million acres of existing command area.
The Telangana government has been arguing that the project would deprive it of its rightful share in the Godavari waters and that it is also against the AP Reorganisation Act, 2024, which says no new project shall be taken up by either of the two Telugu states without the consent of the other.
“The project also violates the Godavari Water Disputes Tribunal (GWDT) Award, which mandates consultation with all co-basin states before modifying inter-basin transfers. Further, the proposal ignores Telangana’s entitlement to 968 tmc of assured Godavari waters, as per the GWDT award,” Uttam Kumar Reddy said.
Andhra irrigation minister Nimmala Ramanaidu, however, said the proposed project will in no way affect the interests of Telangana, as it would utilise the Godavari water only after the upper riparian states of Maharashtra and Telangana fully utilised their entitled quota.
“Andhra Pradesh is the tail-end state for the Godavari and every year, the state suffers from heavy floods to the river with more than 3,000 tmc of water going waste into the sea, inundating hundreds of villages. The project is aimed at diverting a part of these flood waters to drought-hit Rayalaseema region by linking it to Krishna and Pennar basin,” Ramanaidu said.
Revanth’s proposal checkmates Andhra
During his meeting with Union Jal Sakthi minister CR Patil in New Delhi on June 19, Telangana CM Revanth Reddy suggested an alternative proposal for diversion of Godavari waters to Pennar basin via Krishna, instead of the high-cost Polavaram-Banakacharla project.
The Congress leader told Patil that the Telangana government was ready for talks on lifting of water to Pennar basin by linking Ichampally in Telangana with Nagarjuna Sagar in Andhra-Telangana border, if the neighbouring state really believes there was any flood water in Godavari.
To be sure, the Ichampalli-Sagar link canal proposal is not a new one. The Narendra Modi government had proposed it as part of the Godavari-Cauvery link project in 2022 and held meetings with representatives from the two Telugu states. The Centre had even prepared a draft detailed project report (DPR) under the national river-linking initiative with 100% central funding.
The draft DPR was circulated among the riparian states of Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Odisha, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Karnataka, Puducherry, Kerala and Tamil Nadu in February 2022. It aimed at diverting 141.26 tmc of surplus water from Godavari to Cauvery, through underground tunnels.
The project was estimated to cost around ₹60,000 crore and aimed at ensuring supply of Godavari water to the tail-end of Tamil Nadu by linking it to Cauvery via Krishna and Pennar river basins.
The Ichampalli-Sagar link canal proposal, however, did not take off, as both Telangana and Andhra Pradesh opposed it. However, the Revanth Reddy-led Telangana government has now revived the Centre’s proposal to stop the N Chandrababu Naidu-led Andhra Pradesh government’s move to divert water from Polavaram to Banakacharla.
