The Telangana government has reportedly filed a counter affidavit in a case regarding the Polavaram project in Andhra Pradesh, requesting the Supreme Court to ask the state to carry out a fresh environmental impact assessment (EIA) study.

The Hindu quoted the Telangana government as stating that a fresh EIA study was necessary to “safeguard the lives of the people, livestock and environment in over 100 villages of nine mandals in Bhadradri-Kothagudem district near the river banks facing the submergence threat with the backwaters of Polavaram project”.

The Telangana government also contended that a fresh study was necessary as the Central Water Commission (CWC) had revised probable maximum flood (PMF) at the Polavaram reservoir site to 50 lakh cusecs, TNIE reported.

The Detailed Project Report (DPR) submitted earlier, had pegged the figure at 36 lakh cusecs.

This comes less than two weeks after the Union Environment and Forest Ministry granted an extension to Andhra Pradesh, for continuing construction work on the Polavaram dam.

The extension was granted on the recommendation of the Water Resources Ministry, after work was halted, due to a complaint filed by the governments of Chhattisgarh and Odisha, that the project did not have environmental clearance.

In its present form, the multi-purpose irrigation project, has an assessed command area of 2.91 lakh hectares and a power generation potential of 960 MW. 

It was declared a national project in 2014.

All neighbouring states of Andhra have opposed it in some form or the other, with Odisha being the biggest critic of the project.

While the Telangana government has moved the National Green Tribunal (NGT), seeking a detailed survey, Odisha has been putting constant pressure on the Centre, claiming that the project is against the interests of the state.