In a big setback to Chandrababu Naidu-led coalition government, the Krishna River Management Board (GRMB) has made it clear that if the Andhra Pradesh government takes up the construction of the Banakacharla project, the Polavaram project will have to get permission from the Technical Advisory Committee (TAC) again.
The board said that the construction capabilities of the Polavaram project will change with the Banakacharla project, and therefore the consent of all the states is mandatory.
It has recently written a letter to the Central Water Resources Commission (CWC) to this effect. It is known that the AP government has submitted the PFR (Pre-Feasibility Report) regarding the Polavaram-Banakacharla link project to the Central Water Resources Department (CWRD). In this context, the CWRD has advised the Krishna and Godavari River Boards, NWDA and all the states to express their views on the project.
A copy of the PFR report has been sent. With this, KRMB has recently sent its observations on the Banakacherla Link project to the CWC. It explained that the Banakacherla Link project is being undertaken from Polavaram in the Godavari Basin, and the water will be diverted to the Krishna River and finally transferred to the Penna Basin.
However, it was revealed that the construction capabilities of the Polavaram project will completely change with the diversion of Godavari waters. It stated that if the Godavari Banakacherla Link is undertaken, the permissions taken for the construction of the Polavaram project will not have any relevance to the currently proposed works.
It said that the designs, as well as the canal capacity, will have to be completely changed, contrary to the permissions taken for the construction of the project. In this context, it has been clarified that in order to undertake the Banakacherla project, TAC permissions will have to be taken once again, and the consent of all the states in the basin is mandatory, and discussions will have to be held with the respective states.
The KRMB reminded that if Godavari waters are diverted to Krishna River, the states in the Krishna Basin will have to be given a share of the diverted waters, and the Bachawat Tribunal has clearly stated this.
Meanwhile, the Godavari River Management Board (GRMB) has also written a letter to the CWC expressing several objections to the Polavaram-Banakacherla Link Project. It expressed doubts and technical objections on many aspects of the PFR submitted by AP. It indirectly suggested that the project should not be given permission.
It clarified that the Banakacherla Link Project is mainly being taken up from Polavaram, and that the link project will change the appearance, canals, and other capabilities of the Polavaram project, and therefore, to that extent, new permissions will have to be taken from the TAC once again.
