State Says No To Banakacharla Discussion At Apex Council Today
The Telangana government has opposed the inclusion of the Godavari-Banakacharla project in the agenda for Wednesday’s Apex Council meeting in Delhi, to be chaired by jal shakti minister C.R. Patil: Reports
HYDERABAD: The Telangana government has opposed the inclusion of the Godavari-Banakacharla project in the agenda for Wednesday’s Apex Council meeting in Delhi, to be chaired by jal shakti minister C.R. Patil. The other two members of the Apex Council are the Telangana and Andhra Pradesh Chief Ministers, and the project was sought to be included in the agenda by Andhra Pradesh.
While Telangana irrigation minister N. Uttam Kumar Reddy told the jal shakti ministry that there wer important issues on Krishna river and other topics that the Apex Council needed to focus on, Telangana Chief Secretary K. Ramakrishna Rao in a letter to the ministry on Monday said any discussion on the Godavari-Banakacharla project will be “unequivocally premature.”
Ramakrishna Rao said this would be so “given the number of “unresolved and substantive objections” raised by the Polavaram Project Authority (PPA), the Godavari River Management Board (GRMB), the Central Water Commission (CWC), as well as the Expert Advisory Committee of the ministry of environment, and the “ongoing violations of binding legal provisions and tribunal awards.”
He also said if the project is discussed, then it will “undermine the authority of the government of India's own regulatory mechanisms and set a precedent contrary to the rule of law.”
The meeting’s agenda should be revised to defer any discussion on the Godavari-Banakacherla Link Project until all statutory requirements, interstate consultations, and clearances are fully complied with and all objections are resolved, Ramakrishna Rao said.
Uttam Kumar Reddy, in a separate letter, said in addition to various issues and clearances for Telangana’s projects on Krishna river pending with the CWC, there were several others pending with the Jal Shakti Ministry, which need attention. Among these, the minister said, were diversion by Andhra Pradesh of Krishna water from the high, and bottom levels of Srisailam reservoir to outside Krishna basin regions in AP.
Uttam Kumar Reddy also said the ministry needed to take action on AP diverting water from Tungabhadra river away from Krishna river using unauthorised off-take points at Muchumarri and Handri Neeva Sujala Sravanthi lift scheme, both in violation of the Krishna Water Disputes Tribunal-I award.
Uttam Kumar Reddy asked the jal shakti ministry to hold a meeting of stakeholders to resolve these, and other pending issues between AP and Telangana and assist Telangana government bring prosperity to the state using its rightful share of the river waters.
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What Telangana wants from Jal Shakti Ministry
Drop Godavari-Banakacharla from Wednesday’s Apex Council meet agenda.
Discuss AP’s illegal diversion of Krishna and Tungabhadra waters.
Accelerated Irrigation Benefits Programme funds for Pranahita-Chevella project.
AP’s unauthorised constructions/projects to divert more than its share of Krishna water.
Stop AP from diverting water from Tungabhadra which should come to Krishna river.
