The Central Forest and Environment Ministry’s expert committee has ruled that permission cannot be given to the Godavari-Banakacharla Link Project, which was undertaken by the Chandrababu Naidu government with great prestige. Stating that 3,000 TMCs of water flow into the sea from Godavari every year, the AP government has initiated this project to divert 200 TMCs from Polavaram to Banakacharla.
AP CM Chandrababu Naidu has requested the Center to provide financial assistance for this project, which will be undertaken at a cost of Rs. 81,000 crores. Proposals have been submitted to the Union Ministry of Forest and Environment for the ‘TOR (Terms of Reference)’ for the first phase of environmental clearances.
However, it is known that Telangana CM Revanth Reddy and Irrigation Minister Uttam Kumar Reddy recently met Union Jal Shakti Minister C.R. Patil and expressed objections. The Expert Appraisal Committee (EAC) of the River Valley Hydroelectric Project met in Delhi on June 17. It discussed the AP proposals.
It refused to issue a ToR. The EAC members raised several questions on the PB Link project. The project will provide drinking water to about 80 lakh people, irrigate 3 lakh hectares of new land, stabilize 9.14 lakh hectares of land, and develop 20 TMC and 400 MW of hydroelectric power generation capacity for industrial needs.
The EAC noted that the states of Odisha, Chhattisgarh and others have raised objections on the issues related to flooding in the Polavaram multipurpose project, and that the matter is within the jurisdiction of the court. The EAC also considered the objections received through various channels, including emails, on the AP government’s proposals on the project.
The proposed scheme aims to divert flood water from the Polavaram Dam in the Godavari basin to the water deficit basins of the AP state, and in this context, the EAC was of the opinion that a comprehensive study on the availability of flood water in the Godavari should be conducted in consultation with the Central Water Commission (CWC).
It said that complaints have been received that this project violates the Godavari Water Disputes Tribunal Award 1980. Therefore, the EAC suggested that the CWC should be consulted first, the inter-state issues should be resolved and the necessary permissions should be obtained. Only then should the proposals be sent for the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA).
