Telangana Files Plea in SC To Stop AP’s Polavaram-Nallamala Sagar Project
State challenges diversion of Godavari waters, seeks halt to DPR and approvals
Hyderabad: Telangana on Tuesday approached the Supreme Court to stop Andhra Pradesh from going ahead with the Polavaram-Nallamalasagar link project (PNLP) through which the neighbouring state plans to divert 200 tmc ft of water from the Godavari river into the Krishna.
Telangana, in its writ petition, sought a direction to restrain Andhra Pradesh and its agencies from going ahead with preparation of a detailed project report (DPR), and execution of the project.
Telangana also said AP was seeking to expand usage of Godavari water from its share of 80 tmc ft to 200 tmc ft, with a further option of expanding to 300 tmc ft. Telangana also urged the court in its petition to restrain Central agencies such as the Central Water Commission (CWC), the Jal Shakti Ministry, the Ministry of Environment and Forests, and the Godavari and Krishna river boards from either appraising any submission on the project from AP, or grant clearances or funds.
It may be recalled that Telangana had complained multiple times to the Jal Shakti Ministry over AP’s plans for the project, in its first avatar as the Polavaram-Banakacharla link project and again after AP changed the endpoint from Banakacharla to Nallamalasagar.
Noting that Polavaram by itself was a national project, Telangana said there were several illegalities with respect to AP’s new plans. Andhra Pradesh, the petition said, had gone ahead calling for preparing the DPR without even receiving the consent for a pre-feasibility study. Andhra Pradesh was going ahead with the DPR plans despite being told not to do so by the CWC, Telangana said.
The Telangana petition also said the PNLP itself did not have statutory clearances or approvals from the CWC, the Polavaram Project Authority, the Godavari River Management Board or the Jal Shakti Ministry.
