States » SouthPosted at: Jul 1 2025 11:09PM


Will not compromise on Telangana’s water share: Min. Uttam

Hyderabad, July 1 (UNI) The Congress government will not compromise on Telangana’s rightful share of water in the Godavari and Krishna rivers, state Irrigation Minister Capt. N. Uttam Kumar Reddy declared here on Tuesday evening.
Uttam, who made a detailed PowerPoint presentation on ‘The Water Issues of Telangana in Godavari and Krishna River Basins’ at Dr. Jyotirao Phule Praja Bhavan here, said the previous BRS regime had mortgaged Telangana’s interests and allowed Andhra Pradesh to push ahead with projects like the Polavaram–Banakacherla Link Project (Godavari-Banakacherla during undivided AP) due to its compromised approach.
In contrast, he asserted, the Congress government is committed to defending Telangana’s water rights with full determination while also exposing the false propaganda being spread by BRS.
“We will not rest until every right of Telangana on its share of Godavari and Krishna waters is fully protected. Our farmers, our drinking water security, our future irrigation potential - everything depends on defending these river rights, and the Congress government is fully committed to this mission,” Uttam asserted.
On the legal front, the Minister reminded that the Godavari, India’s second-longest river with a flow path of 1,465 km across several states, is a crucial lifeline for Telangana after it enters the state near Kandakurthi village in Nizamabad district.
The river’s average assured and surplus waters are governed by the Godavari Water Disputes Tribunal (GWDT) Award of 1980, which clearly defines how flood and assured waters are to be shared among the co-basin states, including Telangana as a successor and terminal riparian state.
Uttam said the PBLP would override these entitlements, violating Telangana’s fair share guaranteed by that award, and could give Andhra Pradesh a future legal advantage by establishing unilateral infrastructure.
The Minister pointed out that during the BRS government’s tenure, led by former Chief Minister K. Chandrashekhar Rao, Telangana failed to raise any substantial legal or technical objections to these developments.
Despite the clear violation of the AP Reorganisation Act, 2014, which mandates Apex Council approval under Sections 84(3)(ii) and 85(8)(d) for any new project, the BRS regime did not challenge Andhra Pradesh’s unilateral decisions. “In fact, KCR attended Apex Council and inter-state review meetings and publicly declared a friendly approach of ‘no knives drawn, let’s work together’ regarding river interlinking, without placing formal safeguards to protect Telangana’s entitlements,” Uttam said.
He emphasised that this compromised stance created an opportunity for Andhra Pradesh to accelerate the PBLP plan without serious opposition. “When tenders were called and even initial works commenced, Telangana under BRS remained silent, emboldening Andhra Pradesh to treat the project as a fait accompli,” he remarked.
Uttam stated that the Congress government has completely reversed the negligent and soft approach adopted earlier. “After our government assumed office, we immediately launched a series of coordinated interventions,” he explained.
The Irrigation Minister further detailed that the Congress government cited multiple legal violations, including disregard for the Godavari Water Disputes Tribunal (GWDT) Award, which allocated flood and surplus waters among co-basin states.
He pointed out that the Environmental Clearance (EC) for Polavaram was granted in 2005 for a different project scope, and any large-scale diversion like PBLP would require fresh environmental assessment under EIA rules. “We made it crystal clear - Telangana will not allow its hard-earned and historically legitimate rights to be usurped,” Uttam said.
Highlighting the recent success, Uttam informed the gathering that, due to these sustained and technically backed objections, the Expert Appraisal Committee (EAC) of the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, which met on June 30, decided to return the proposal submitted by Andhra Pradesh. The proposal was sent back without granting even Terms of Reference (ToR), effectively blocking any environment clearance at this stage.
The presentation also laid out in detail the legal, technical, and environmental threats posed by the Polavaram–Banakacherla Link Project.
Uttam highlighted that the PBLP proposes to divert up to 300 TMC of water - 200 TMC in the first stage and an additional 100 TMC later from the Polavaram headworks. This scale of diversion would fundamentally alter the Polavaram project’s operational plan, including its flood moderation functions and the design parameters approved by the Central Water Commission and the GWDT.
On the legal front, the Minister said PBLP posed a major challenge to Telangana’s riparian rights as awarded by the Godavari Water Disputes Tribunal (GWDT), which recognized Telangana’s legitimate claims to surplus floodwaters as a terminal co-basin state. If Andhra Pradesh built and operationalized the link, it would establish de-facto “first use” infrastructure, giving it a superior negotiating position in any future water tribunal or inter-state dispute.
“Essentially, Telangana would be permanently pushed into a weaker role to claim its share over both assured waters and surplus floodwaters that are vital for our new irrigation and drinking water schemes,” he warned.
Uttam Kumar Reddy told the gathering that Andhra Pradesh’s argument of unilateral right over floodwaters ignored the co-basin rights granted to Telangana under the GWDT Award and violated key provisions of Sections 84 and 85 of the AP Reorganisation Act, 2014, which require Apex Council approval for any new inter-state projects.
He summarised that if the PBLP went ahead, it would not only flood Telangana’s lands and threaten thousands of hectares of ayacut and habitations but also cripple the state’s future capacity to build water infrastructure for drinking, irrigation, and industrial needs. “That is why this project must be stopped in its tracks,” he asserted.
“The Congress government is determined to put an end to this injustice. We will pursue every constitutional, legal, and political option to secure Telangana’s rightful share,” Uttam added.
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