Hyderabad: The Telangana government on Wednesday launched a coordinated political and legal challenge to Andhra Pradesh’s proposed Godavari-Banakacherla link project, with Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy and Irrigation Minister N. Uttam Kumar Reddy leading an all-party meeting aimed at halting the ₹81,900-crore scheme.
MPs from Congress, BJP, BRS and AIMIM attended the session convened at the Dr. B.R. Ambedkar Telangana Secretariat. The Chief Minister stated that diversion of Telangana’s share of Godavari and Krishna waters would not be permitted under any circumstances. “Politics can wait. Farmers’ rights come first,” he told the gathering, urging cross-party unity on the issue.
Congress MPs Renuka Chowdhury, Mallu Ravi, Suresh Kumar Shetkar, Anil Kumar Yadav, Chamala Kiran Kumar, Balram Naik, and Raghuveera Reddy were present. BJP was represented by DK Aruna and Raghunandan Rao, BRS by Vaddiraju Ravichandra, and AIMIM by Asaduddin Owaisi.
Uttam Kumar Reddy outlined the scope of the Polavaram-Banakacherla Link Project (PBLP), describing a plan to move 200 TMC of Godavari floodwaters through a 417-km corridor of canals, tunnels, pipelines and lift stations from Polavaram to the Penna basin via Krishna. The project aims to create new irrigation potential for 7.41 lakh acres and stabilise another 22.59 lakh acres in Rayalaseema and surrounding regions. He said the daily drawal planned is 3 TMC, requiring 3,792 MW of power.
The minister said Andhra Pradesh had not secured Telangana’s consent, which is legally required under inter-state river sharing norms. He pointed to violations of Sections 85(8)(d) and 90 of the AP Reorganisation Act, 2014. The scheme also contravenes provisions of the Godavari Water Disputes Tribunal (GWDT) Award, which mandates prior agreement from all co-basin states for any inter-basin transfer changes.
He said the proposal ignores Telangana’s entitlement to 968 TMC of assured Godavari water and warned of a potential precedent that would establish Andhra Pradesh’s de facto rights over surplus water. He called the project an attempt to create a fait accompli through infrastructure, bypassing required clearances and consents.
Uttam added that the project would have serious upstream impact, including submergence risks in Telangana. Specific zones like Bhadrachalam temple, the Manuguru heavy water plant, and multiple habitations from Dummugudem to the border would face elevated flash flood threats due to altered drainage and congestion of tributaries. Clause VI(iii) of the GWDT final order, he said, had clearly stipulated that any operational changes to Polavaram required concurrence from Telangana, Chhattisgarh, and Odisha.
He also noted that the Polavaram Project Authority had not cleared the project, and that it lacked environmental clearance and terms of reference. According to a 2018 report by the Central Water Commission, there is no surplus water available at Polavaram at 75% dependability, contradicting Andhra Pradesh’s claim of using only floodwaters.
Despite this, Uttam said, Andhra Pradesh had already initiated project activities through a Special Purpose Vehicle named ‘Jala Harathi Corporation’ to handle tenders and financing, all without mandatory consultation. He said while Telangana’s legitimate irrigation efforts were repeatedly held up, this project was progressing unimpeded.
Tracing the state’s response, he said the Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister first approached the Union Finance Minister in November 2024 for ₹78,039 crore for the project. A revised proposal under the “Swarnandhra@2047” framework in December increased the demand to ₹80,112 crore. Telangana filed its first formal objection in January through the Godavari River Management Board (GRMB), followed by letters on January 22 to the Union Jal Shakti and Finance Ministries warning of legal violations and seeking denial of funds.
Further objections were lodged on January 24 by the state’s Principal Secretary of Irrigation to the CWC and GRMB. On March 3, Revanth Reddy and Uttam Kumar Reddy met Union Jal Shakti Minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat and submitted a formal representation. Objections continued in April following Andhra Pradesh’s government order creating the SPV. Additional protests were raised in a May 14 meeting with the GRMB Chairman and through communications dated May 28, June 11, June 13, and June 16, which challenged the pre-feasibility report and asked the Ministry of Environment not to approve the project.
Revanth Reddy, in his speech, accused former CM K. Chandrashekhar Rao of initiating the project’s core idea. He referenced the 2016 Apex Council meeting led by Uma Bharti, where KCR allegedly stated that 3,000 TMC of Godavari water was going to waste and accepted only 299 TMC of Krishna water for Telangana. “The meeting minutes are all on file,” Reddy said, also pointing to cooperation between KCR and Jagan Reddy in 2019. “Today’s threat was born back then,” he stated.
The meeting concluded with a decision to escalate the matter through legal and constitutional routes. Revanth Reddy and Uttam Kumar Reddy will meet Union Jal Shakti Minister C.R. Patil in New Delhi on Thursday to demand immediate rejection of the project’s pre-feasibility report. Telangana is also preparing to file a writ petition in the Supreme Court seeking a stay on all related project activities.
నీటి వాటాలో తెలంగాణ హక్కులు కాపాడుకోవడంలో ప్రభుత్వం రాజీలేని పోరాటం చేస్తుందని ముఖ్యమంత్రి శ్రీ @revanth_anumula గారు స్పష్టం చేశారు. ఆంధ్రప్రదేశ్ చేపడుతున్న బనకచర్ల ప్రాజెక్టును అడ్డుకోవడానికి రాజకీయంగానే కాకుండా చట్ట పరమైన పోరాటం కూడా చేస్తామని తెలిపారు. ఢిల్లీలో కేంద్ర జల… pic.twitter.com/RNf65FV6o1
— Telangana CMO (@TelanganaCMO) June 18, 2025
The Chief Minister reiterated that Telangana would not compromise on water rights. “This is not politics. This is survival. We will fight with every technical, legal, and political tool available,” he said.
