The Telangana government has objected to the proposal to discuss Banakacharla in the meeting of the Chief Ministers of the two Telugu states to be chaired by Union Water Resources Minister CR Patil. It has made it clear that there is no need to discuss Banakacharla in this meeting and proposed approvals for pending projects on the Krishna river as an agenda.
It has specifically mentioned that the Dindi and Palamuru projects should be given national status, the Inchampalli project should be taken up by the Centre, and 80 TMC should be allocated for the Pranahita project at Thummadihetti. The Telangana government has proposed to build a new project to utilize 200 TMC of flood water.
It has mentioned in the letter that there are no approvals for Banakacharla and that there is a violation of laws and tribunal judgments. It has stated that it is inappropriate to discuss the Godavari- Banakacharla link project and cautioned that such actions will erode trust in the regulatory agencies of the central government.
Union Water Resources Minister CR Patil held a meeting with Chief Ministers of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana states Chandrababu Naidu and Revanth Reddy on Wednesday regarding the Godavari-Banakacharla project. The Water Resources Ministry has requested that if there are any other agenda points to be discussed on behalf of the states along with this issue, they should be sent immediately.
The AP government has given a single agenda to discuss Banakacharla in the meeting. Originally, it was decided to hold the meeting on the 11th of this month and the Chief Ministers’ time was sought, but due to no positive response, it was postponed to the 16th. It is reported that the Chief Ministers of both states have agreed to attend on this date.
According to the AP Reorganization Act, the Union Water Resources Minister should be the chairman of the issues related to new projects and water disputes. These issues are to be discussed in the Apex Council, which has the chairman and the CMs of the two states as members. Only two such meetings have been held in the last ten years.
Recently, the AP government proposed the Banakacherla project to utilize the flood waters of the Godavari. The Telangana government is strongly opposed to this project. CM Revanth Reddy and Irrigation Minister Uttam have already met the Union Minister in Delhi and expressed their objection.
They have written letters demanding that environmental clearances and permissions from the Central Water Commission not be given. Telangana strongly argues that the Godavari-Banakacherla linkage will cause injustice to projects in Telangana. In this context, the meeting with the Union Minister has assumed greater significance.