Harish Rao calls Godavari-Cauvery link route a 'threat' to Telangana's water rights

Senior Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) leader and former Irrigation Minister T. Harish Rao has alleged that a conspiracy is being hatched against Telangana over the proposed Godavari–Cauvery river link, warning that the project as currently routed would amount to a "death warrant" for the state's water rights.

Addressing a press conference on Saturday, Mr. Harish Rao urged Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy to intervene and "stop the injustice being scripted against Telangana".

The remarks follow a letter written on October 7 by Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu to the Centre, requesting that the Godavari–Cauvery link be taken from Polavaram and included in the agenda of the next meeting of the National Water Development Agency (NWDA). The agency's agenda for its November 3 meeting was fixed on the basis of that request.

Mr. Harish Rao said Mr. Naidu had been attempting one route after another to divert Godavari water. He said the Andhra Pradesh government first proposed the Polavaram–Banakacherla link to carry 200 tmc ft of water, later renamed it Nallamalasagar, and had now persuaded the Centre to clear a route to Banakacherla under the Godavari–Cauvery link. According to him, this is the third proposal to carry water directly from Polavaram through Bollapalli, Nagarjunasagar and Somasila to the Cauvery.

The BRS leader said all beneficiary states had agreed a decade ago that water for the link should be drawn from Telangana, at Ichampally, and alleged that Mr. Naidu now wanted Telangana to be excluded from the benefits of the project.

Turning to the drought situation, Mr. Harish Rao said the BRS had been raising an alarm for the past few months and had suggested lifting water using the pumphouses of the Kaleshwaram and Palamuru-Rangareddy projects. He alleged that the government had ignored the Opposition's suggestions and was now citing the El Niño phenomenon to explain the shortfall.

He also criticised the government's management of existing lift irrigation schemes. Only three of the ten pumps at Devadula were operated, he said, arguing that running all of them would have cushioned the drought's impact in the combined Warangal district. Similarly, he said, only 13 tmc ft of water was lifted through the Kalwakurthy lift irrigation project, against a potential of 45 tmc ft.

The Godavari–Cauvery link is one of the river-linking proposals studied under the National Perspective Plan for inter-basin water transfer, with the NWDA — constituted under the Union Ministry of Jal Shakti — coordinating feasibility studies. Such projects require agreement among the states concerned on water sharing, submergence and the sharing of costs, and have historically been contested.

Telangana has separately raised concerns about the Polavaram project, including the possible impact of its backwaters on habitations in the state, and about the share of Godavari water available to it under the relevant tribunal awards.

The charges made by Mr. Harish Rao are allegations by an opposition party. This report does not include a response from the Telangana government or from the Andhra Pradesh administration.