Ignoring Telangana state government’s objections, the Union Water Resources Ministry has indicated that the techno-economic appraisal process related to the Polavaram- Banakacherla link project undertaken by the AP government will not stop. It has been revealed that it will take into account the issues raised by the Godavari basin states including Telangana and move forward with consultations.
To this extent, Union Water Resources Minister CR Patil himself wrote a letter to Telangana Chief Minister Revanth Reddy 20 days ago. But it is noteworthy that the state government has not yet brought this issue to the fore. It is known that AP has made plans to undertake the Polavaram- Banakacherla Link Project (PB) at an estimated cost of Rs. 81,000 crores to divert 200 TMC of flood water from Godavari, contrary to the award.
The PFR (Pre-Feasibility Report) related to that PB link project has already been submitted to the Union Water Resources Ministry. Revanth Reddy finally responded due to the opposition to the project across Telangana and pressure from BRS. He wrote a letter to the Union Minister of Water Resources last July, expressing his objections to the PB Link project. Recently, Union Minister of Water Resources CR Patil responded to the Telangana CM’s letter.
Chief Minister Revanth Reddy wrote a letter on September 23, responding to the letter. He revealed that the PFR of the PB Link project submitted by AP is currently being examined by the Central Water Commission (CWC) under the Central Water Resources Department. He said that the PFR has been sent to all the co-basin states.
The Union Minister also said in the letter that the appropriate process will be followed for the techno-economic assessment of the project in consultation with the relevant authorities and co-basin states. It is noteworthy that the Central Water Resources Department has revealed that it is examining the PFR without rejecting it. In this case, even after 20 days have passed since the letter from the Center was received, the state government has been covering up and hiding this matter, which has become a topic of discussion.