Hyderabad: The Telangana govt has alleged that important project details, such as the Godavari-Bankacherla link being undertaken by Andhra Pradesh, which poses a serious threat to Telangana, are not being shared by the Godavari River Management Board (GRMB). GRMB was aware of the Board secretariat. The govt said the ministry of jal shakti had referred to the project as a VIP reference to the Board in Nov 2024, and the details were not shared with Telangana, which was a serious lapse on the part of the Board and not acceptable to it.
The GRMB meeting, led by chairman AK Pradhan, and attended by Telangana irrigation secretary Rahul Bojja, engineer-in-chief (ENC) Anil Kumar, and Andhra Pradesh ENC Venkateshwarlu, was held on Monday. The Andhra Pradesh govt officials informed the Board that the detailed project report (DPR) of Bankacherla was not prepared yet.
The Telangana irrigation officials said the Godavari-Bankacherla link project was a massive project being undertaken by the Andhra Pradesh govt with an estimated cost of 80,000 crore. Through this scheme, the govt is planning to divert 200 tmc ft of water from the Godavari at Polavaram to Rayalaseema through the Bollapalli reservoir and Bankacherla head regulator. The officials said it was against the Godavari water tribunal award and impacted riparian rights, especially without informing the expansion plans to co-riparian states. The Andhra Pradesh govt was taking up the project without obtaining any approvals from the GRMB and the Central Water Commission, without informing Telangana.
The irrigation officials gave a presentation on how the Bankacherla link would impact Telangana’s rights on Godavari water and the unauthorised project at Polavaram. The meeting also discussed the Peddavagu modernisation with 15 crore. The Telangana officials also brought to the notice of the GRMB chairman that an official was harassing the Telangana officials, especially woman employees, working on deputation to GRMB.
