Interstate water war brews over Andhra’s Polavaram-Nallamala Sagar link project

Telangana has approached the Supreme Court seeking a stay on Andhra Pradesh’s Polavaram–Nallamala Sagar Link Project, alleging illegal diversion of Godavari floodwaters. Upper riparian States have raised objections, citing violations of tribunal awards and ecological risks.

Hyderabad: In what is being seen as an act of unilateral aggression, Andhra Pradesh is bulldozing ahead with its controversial Polavaram-Nallamala Sagar Link Project (PNLP), with alleged plans to siphon off 200 TMC of Godavari floodwaters at the grave expense of upper riparian States.

Telangana has moved the Supreme Court on Tuesday, filing a writ petition to halt what it calls an ‘illegal’ scheme, branding it a flagrant violation of interstate norms and a direct assault on shared river equity. Other upper riparian States, Maharastra, Karnataka, Chhattisgarh and Odisha, all aggrieved with Polavaram, are equally critical of APs moves.

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The PNLP, a thinly veiled repackaging of the scrapped Polavaram-Banakacherla project (cancelled in November amid fierce opposition), aims to lift massive volumes from the near-complete Polavaram dam (88 percent done) through expanded canals, the Bollapalli reservoir and ecologically dangerous tunnels through the Nallamala hills.

Andhra Pradesh is deliberately avoiding diversion of Godavari water into the Krishna river projects (as originally required under the Polavaram project design) and instead routing the proposed 200 TMC sought to be lifted even beyond the Krishna basin, officials said. It plans to transfer the water over the Krishna River and the Nagarjuna Sagar Project (NSP) right canal via aqueducts.

It has cleverly planned to implement it by integrating the key components into a Centre-sponsored interlinking of rivers scheme. Despite being under pressure to heed to AP’s pleas, Central agencies so far find no basis to support it. The Central Water Commission (CWC) has withheld in-principle clearance for the pre-feasibility report of the Polavaram-Banakacharla (submitted in May this year).

The CWC demanded rigorous 75 percent dependability studies and warned against DPR tenders, according to key irrigation officials of telangana. The Godavari River Management Board (GRMB), Krishna River Management Board (KRMB), Polavaram Project Authority (PPA), and Ministry of Environment’s Expert Appraisal Committee have all flagged violations of the Andhra Pradesh Reorganisation Act 2014. They could find no justification for Andhra’s claims over the ‘surplus’ floods wasting into the sea.

AP has planned to lift starting with 23,000 cusecs (2 TMC) per day and to scale up in phases. But experts and upper States cry foul. The Godavari Water Disputes Tribunal (GWDT) award allocated only dependable flows, with no concept of apportioned flood or surplus water, unlike the Krishna basin’s assured shares.

“Unless the availability of flood water is scientifically quantified with 75 percent dependability, no State can be convinced,” veteran irrigation expert Sridhar Rao Deshpande said, stressing that entitlements to floodwaters must be defined first, and Telangana’s core Polavaram concerns, like backwater submergence in Khammam and Bhadradri Kothagudem, addressed primarily. He called the Nallamala Sagar link an ‘additional shocker’ for States like Telangana.

Telangana’s petition seeks an immediate stay on works, tenders, and funding, accusing Andhra of illegally expanding Polavaram infrastructure beyond the approved 80 TMC diversion to Krishna (entitling Karnataka ~21 TMC, Maharashtra ~14 TMC). Karnataka and Maharashtra have lodged formal objections, demanding renegotiated shares and warning of upstream counter-projects if Andhra succeeds.

Odisha and Chhattisgarh, already battling Polavaram submergence, view the link as compounding ecological havoc. This isn’t development, it’s daylight robbery of a shared resource, according to V. Prakash Rao, river water activist and former chairman of Telangana Water Resources Development Corporation.

Andhra’s phased mega-lift will be risking a cascade of retaliatory dams upstream, experts warn, hoping that as the Supreme Court gears up for hearings, upper States will unite to stop the plunder.