Hyderabad: A serious argument broke out between irrigation officials from Telangana and Andhra Pradesh during a meeting of the Godavari River Management Board (GRMB) in Hyderabad on Monday. The disagreement was about the controversial Godavari–Banakacharla project.
Telangana officials were upset that Andhra Pradesh was moving ahead with the project without getting proper water allocations or approvals from central government agencies. However, officials from Andhra Pradesh said that the Detailed Project Report (DPR) is still being prepared and no final steps have been taken yet.
The meeting was led by GRMB Chairman A.K. Pradhan. Telangana was represented by Irrigation Secretary Rahul Bojja, while Andhra Pradesh was represented by Engineer-in-Chief (Water Resources) Venkateshwara Rao. Both sides strongly defended their positions on the project, which is meant to help the drought-affected Rayalaseema region by diverting 200 TMC (thousand million cubic feet) of water from the Godavari River.
Telangana officials questioned the GRMB Chairman about why there had been no updates on letters sent by the Union Jal Shakti Ministry over the past six months. They accused Andhra Pradesh of not sharing important project details, even after several requests. Telangana also demanded to know how the project might affect its own land and water resources.
In response, Andhra Pradesh said it is still working on the DPR and is in the process of getting the required clearances from the Central Water Commission and the Ministry of Environment and Forests. Telangana responded by questioning whether Andhra Pradesh had the legal right to start such an expensive project without approvals or agreement from other states that share the Godavari River.
During the meeting, there was also a discussion about complaints against GRMB Secretary R. Azhagesan. Both states asked the Chairman to take immediate action, saying that women employees had already filed complaints about harassment, but nothing had been done so far.
