The Government of Telangana has asked the Centre to go for a detailed project report (DPR) only after establishing that the State has water in excess of its needs – water for its existing and new irrigation projects – for interlinking of rivers in Southern Peninsula.
Highly-placed official sources told The Hindu that the Centre appears to be in a hurry for taking up interlinking of rivers on the directions of the Supreme Court and wants to take up work on the preparation of DPR for rivers in the Southern Peninsula in a couple of months, as indicated at the recent national conference on the issue held at Delhi.
In spite of agreeing for interlinking of rivers in principle, Telangana has, however, made its objections amply clear that water balance study be taken up afresh since the report based on which the Centre is planning now was prepared more than two decades ago.
“Several new projects based on Godavari water are either under implementation or being planned, particularly in the scenario of separation of Telangana from combined Andhra Pradesh and the river gets surplus only after tributaries Pranahita and Indravati confluence with it,” the sources said.
Though the Centre is of the view that Mahanadi and Godavari are surplus rivers in Southern Peninsula, Odisha has an opposite view. There are proposals to divert about 400 tmcft water from Manibhadhra dam constructed across Mahanadi to Dowleswaram (Godavari) and take over 500 tmc from Godavari to Krishna-Penna-Cauvery basins, the official explained. “The Centre believes that interlinking of rivers is like linking national highways in the ‘golden quadrilateral’ project,” the sources said.
The feasibility report on interlinking of Southern Peninsular rivers is also outdated and needs to be prepared afresh since new projects such as Sriramsagar stage-two, Sriramsagar flood flow canal, Devadula, Indirasagar, Rajivsagar, Pranahita-Chevella and Kanathapalli have either come up or under implementation.
“Tamil Nadu and Karnataka (only in case of a few rivers where it prospers with interlinking) are favouring interlinking while Odisha, Telangana and Kerala are opposing it in the absence of linking of Himalayan rivers with Peninsular rivers,” the official said.
