Amaravati, June 17 (IANS) Amid the Telangana government’s serious objection to the Godavari-Banakacherla Link Project and mounting pressure on the Centre to reject the Pre-Feasibility Report (PFR), the Andhra Pradesh government on Tuesday defended the project, contending that it will not result in any harm to the interests of upper riparian states.

State Water Resources Development Ministry Nimmala Ramanaidu made a PowerPoint presentation on the project at a press conference, pointing out that every year, 3,000 TMC water from the Godavari River is going to waste into the sea.

The minister stated that Andhra Pradesh proposes to utilise the Godavari water available at Polavaram. “The water which is going to waste into the sea is being diverted to Banakacherla,” he said.

Ramanaidu said that Andhra Pradesh is not utilising the water allocated to upper riparian states. He mentioned that Godavari is the only river in the world to have a flow of 50 lakh cusecs.

The minister said there was no truth in the allegation that Andhra Pradesh is usurping Telangana’s share of Godavari waters through the Godavari-Banakacherla Link Project. He claimed that the Andhra Pradesh government was acting as per the rules while taking steps to execute the project.

Telangana’s Irrigation Minister N. Uttam Kumar Reddy had on Monday urged Union Environment Minister Bhupender Yadav not to undertake any appraisal of the Polavaram-Banakacherla project proposed by the Andhra Pradesh government and reject outright the request to grant Terms of Reference (ToR) in the upcoming meeting of the Expert Appraisal Committee (EAC).

In a letter to the Union Minister, Uttam Kumar Reddy said that the Andhra Pradesh government submitted the proposal to the Ministry of Environment and Forest requesting ToR for the Polavaram-Banakacherla link project to divert 200 tmcft of floodwaters. This proposal was included as an agenda item for the 33rd meeting of the Expert Appraisal Committee (EAC) on river valley projects scheduled on Tuesday.

The Telangana minister argued that Andhra Pradesh has no locus standi for undertaking such a link project, as the proposal submitted by it is totally against the Godavari Water Disputes Tribunal, 1980.

He urged the Centre to reject the proposal for the ToR for the modified Polavaram Irrigation Project (PIP). He alleged that the Andhra Pradesh government’s actions represent consistent violations of environmental clearances and tribunal allocations.

Uttam Kumar Reddy wrote that Andhra Pradesh carried out massive deviations in both the Krishna and Godavari basins by enlarging the scope of several components of the PIP, in violation of the permissions accorded by the Godavari Water Disputes Tribunal Award (GWDTA) and the Technical Advisory Committee (TAC).

Uttam Kumar Reddy had earlier urged the Centre to immediately reject the Pre-Feasibility Report (PFR), block submission of the Detailed Project Report (DPR), and halt any move to call or award tenders related to the scheme.

The minister last week wrote to Jal Shakti Minister C.R. Patil that the project not only breaches the Godavari Water Disputes Tribunal (GWDT) Award of 1980 and the Andhra Pradesh Reorganisation Act (APRA), 2014, but also poses a direct and unacceptable threat to Telangana’s rightful share of river waters.

–IANS

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