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Amid the ongoing water dispute between Telangana and Andhra Pradesh over the Godavari-Banakacherla Link Project, Telangana Chief Minister Revanth Reddy blamed the previous Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) government for allegedly ‘doling out’ Godavari waters to Andhra Pradesh. He also cautioned Andhra CM Chandrababu Naidu “not to be delusive that the Prime Minister would heed to whatever he (Naidu) says.”
On June 17, the Telangana government had urged Union Environment Minister Bhupender Yadav not to undertake any appraisal of the Polavaram-Banakacherla project proposed by the Andhra Pradesh government.
Telangana has alleged that the project not only breaches the Godavari Water Disputes Tribunal Award of 1980 and the Andhra Pradesh Reorganisation Act, 2014, but also poses a direct and unacceptable threat to Telangana’s rightful share of river waters.
The Andhra Pradesh government has defended the project, contending that it will not result in any harm to the interests of upper riparian states.
CM Revanth on Wednesday, June 18, held an all-party meeting to discuss the Godavari-Banakacharla linkage. Addressing media persons after the meeting, CM Revanth alleged that agreements between former Telangana CM K Chandrashekar Rao and former Andhra Pradesh CM YS Jagan Mohan Reddy were “completely detrimental to the interest of Telangana.”
Revanth said that he will lead an all-party delegation to New Delhi to meet the Union Minister for Water Resources to voice Telangana’s serious objection over the proposed Banakacherla project by the Government of Andhra Pradesh “which would cause an irrevocable loss to the interests of Telangana.”
“The Telangana government is following due process and explaining matters to the Union government. I caution AP CM Chandrababu Naidu not to be delusive that the Prime Minister would heed to whatever he (Naidu) would say just because you can influence the Centre. Chandrababu garu—shying away won’t solve problems. Just because you get clearances from Modi doesn’t mean your projects will be completed. Give NOCs for Telangana’s projects in Krishna/Godavari basins first. Then use the surplus water whichever way you want,” Revanth said.
He referred to the 2016 Apex Council meeting where KCR, according to Revanth Reddy, proposed the diversion of 3,000 TMC feet of surplus Godavari water to Rayalaseema, with 1,000 TMC reportedly going waste into the Bay of Bengal. “The very foundation for the idea of supplying water to Rayalaseema was laid in that meeting,” Revanth said, citing official minutes of the meeting.
“The very foundation for the idea of supplying water to Rayalaseema was laid in that meeting. This project, however, got delayed either due to political reasons or lack of compatibility and camaraderie between Chandrababu Naidu and KCR until 2019,” a statement from Revanth Reddy’s office said.
Once YS Jagan came to power in Andhra Pradesh, they agreed on transferring water from Telangana to Andhra Pradesh, CM Revanth alleged.
He said that Andhra Pradesh was now moving ahead with the project based on discussions that happened between KCR and Chandrababu Naidu in 2016 on the Godavari-Banakacherla issue.