Instructs legal experts to make strong arguments against AP’s Polavaram – Nallamala Sagar project in Supreme Court
Mumbai, January 04: The Telangana government held discussions with senior legal experts to stop Andhra Pradesh from taking up the Polavaram-Nallamala Sagar project on the river Godavari. The state government has already approached the Supreme Court against the project and the writ petition filed by the government is scheduled for hearing in the Supreme Court on Monday.
Following hearing in the Apex Court, Chief Minister Revanth Reddy and Irrigation Minister N Uttam Kumar Reddy met with senior Advocate in Supreme Court Abhishek Singhvi in Mumbai on Sunday. The Chief Minister instructed the legal experts to present effective arguments on behalf of the government. The irrigation officials were also ordered to furnish all necessary evidence to the legal experts.
The state government filed the writ petition in the Supreme Court seeking a direction to halt the expansion works being undertaken by the Andhra Pradesh government to link Polavaram to Banakacherla or Nallamala Sagar without required permissions. The petition also mentioned several important issues including requesting the Supreme Court to immediately direct the Polavaram Project Authority to stop the works.
In the petition, the State Government clearly stated that the Polavaram project works should be taken as per the initially approved plan and undertaking expansion works is illegal. The petition also objected to the central government reviewing the pre-feasibility reports of the Nallamala Sagar project without considering Telangana’s objections. The government requested the Supreme Court to issue clear instructions to the Central Water Commission, Union Ministry of Water Resources and the Godavari River Water Management Board in this regard.
The writ petition also stated that the Andhra Pradesh government is preparing a Detailed Project Report (DPR) in violation of the Central Water Commission’s guidelines and requested that these actions be stopped immediately. The Telangana government was also pleading with the Court to issue necessary orders to stop granting environmental clearances for the expansion projects undertaken by Andhra Pradesh and to withhold any financial assistance from the union government.