The Supreme Court on Monday rejected a petition filed by the Telangana government seeking an injunction against the construction of Andhra Pradesh’s Polavaram project on the Godavari river and the Banakacherla scheme linking the Godavari with the Krishna basin, people familiar with the development said.
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A bench headed by Justice Vikram Nath refused to issue notice to the Andhra Pradesh government or grant any interim relief sought by Telangana.
Instead, the court asked the Telangana government to rectify defects in its petition before it could be taken up for hearing.
Counsel for the Telangana government urged the court to issue notice to the Andhra Pradesh government and pass interim orders, submitting that the petition had named 15 respondents.
The bench, however, observed that the main petition suffered from procedural defects and could not be considered until those were cured. It made it clear that neither notice would be issued nor the matter heard until the defects were rectified.
The court said all other aspects of the case would be considered only after the petition was corrected and re-filed.
The Polavaram-Banakacherla issue, now referred to by Andhra Pradesh as the Polavaram-Nallamala Sagar Link Project, has been a flashpoint between the two Telugu states for months.
Telangana has contended that Andhra Pradesh is expanding the Polavaram project’s canal network and constructing new reservoirs and tunnels to divert significantly more Godavari floodwater to the Krishna basin than the 80 tmc originally cleared.
It has argued that the project lacks mandatory clearances from the Central Water Commission and violates the Godavari Water Disputes Tribunal award and the Andhra Pradesh Reorganisation Act, 2014.
The state has also raised concerns over the risk of submergence in Khammam, Bhadradri Kothagudem and Mulugu districts due to backwater effects.
Andhra Pradesh has defended the project as necessary to meet the water needs of its drought-prone regions.
