Hyderabad: The Telangana government has asked the Godavari River Management Board (GRMB) to stop the Andhra Pradesh government from moving ahead with the Godavari–Banakacharla (G-B) link project. This project has become a matter of dispute between the two states.
In a letter to the GRMB Chairman, Telangana’s Chief Engineer for Irrigation, G Anil Kumar, said that Telangana has already raised objections to the G-B link project. He also mentioned that the state had previously asked the GRMB to take action under the Andhra Pradesh Reorganisation Act (APRA), 2014. Telangana even wrote to the Union Minister of Jal Shakti about the issue.
During the GRMB meeting held on April 7, Telangana officials pointed out that although they had been following up on the matter for a long time, the GRMB had not passed on important information it received from the Union Ministry. They criticized the GRMB for not taking timely action, despite being aware of the problem.
Anil Kumar explained that the Telangana government strongly opposes the G-B link project because it involves diverting over 200 TMC of water from the Godavari River. The estimated cost of the project is Rs 80,112 crore. He also said that the Andhra Pradesh government has formed a special body called the “Jala Harathi Corporation” to complete the project within four years. Telangana argues that the project goes against the Godavari Water Disputes Tribunal (GWDT) Award and the approvals from the Technical Advisory Committee (TAC).
Andhra Pradesh is planning several construction activities to support the G-B link. These include changes to dams and regulators, widening canals, building new structures, and lining canal sections. Telangana claims that some of this work was already done in 2018 under the Palnadu Drought Mitigation Project, which cost over Rs 1,019 crore.
Finally, the Telangana government urged the GRMB to stop Andhra Pradesh from going ahead with the G-B link project in any form and to take immediate action as per the law.
