Our Defence Stymied AP’s Plans on Godavari Water Use: Uttam

Hyderabad: Irrigation minister N. Uttam Kumar Reddy on Wednesday asserted that the State government had taken a series of proactive administrative and legal measures to robustly defend Telangana’s irrigation interests in the ongoing inter-state water dispute over Andhra Pradesh's proposed diversion of Godavari waters through expansions related to the Polavaram project.

The minister, in a statement, said AP repackaged the Polavaram-Banakacherla Link Project as the Polavaram–Nallamala Sagar Link Project, with the same goal of diverting up to 200 tmc ft of Godavari floodwaters for use in Andhra Pradesh.

He said Telangana consistently maintained that both versions of the project violate the Godavari Water Disputes Tribunal Award of 1980, Polavaram irrigation project’s terms, the Andhra Pradesh Reorganisation Act of 2014, and Central Water Commission guidelines.

Uttam Kumar Reddy said Telangana wrote several letters starting this January to the Ministry of Jal Shakti, and the Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change on AP’s plans. “These representations resulted in the MoEFCC’s Expert Appraisal Committee returning AP’s proposal in June,” he said.

Contrary to BRS leader T. Harish Rao’s claims, Telangana rejected outright at a meeting this July in New Delhi the inclusion of PB Link as one of the agenda items at the meeting. “And when AP floated tenders on November 21, 2025 for a Detailed Project Report on the renamed PNLP, we filed a writ petition in the Supreme Court on December 16,” he said.

The petition aims to stop AP from undertaking any work on PBLP/PNLP or related Polavaram expansions, and restrain central agencies from any approvals or clearances. “We are unwavering in our commitment to protect Telangana's allocated 968 tmc ft from Godavari and future irrigation projects,” Uttam Kumar Reddy said.