KCR’s December 21 Outburst Puts Govt on Defensive, TG Moves SC Against Polavaram - Nallamala Sagar

The Telangana government’s decision to move the Supreme Court against Andhra Pradesh’s Polavaram–Nallamala Sagar (Banakacherla) project has come amid heightened political pressure, following former Chief Minister K. Chandrashekar Rao’s sharp attack on the Congress government during his December 21 press conference .

While KCR’s outburst was focused on Krishna river waters , particularly the Palamuru–Rangareddy Lift Irrigation Project , it appears to have pushed the government onto the defensive across all major river water issues . Within two weeks of that press meet, the State approached the Supreme Court , seeking urgent intervention to halt what it described as an unauthorised and irreversible diversion of Godavari waters by Andhra Pradesh.

The matter came up for hearing on Monday, with Telangana represented by senior advocate Abhishek Manu Singhvi . He argued that Andhra Pradesh had begun moving towards diverting Godavari floodwaters far in excess of its allocation , even as Telangana’s own barrages and lift irrigation projects remain under construction. He cautioned that once canals are built, the loss of flood flows to Telangana would be permanent and irreversible .

The Chief Justice of India raised repeated concerns over the maintainability of the writ petition, observing that “ ultimately, this is a water dispute .” The Bench indicated that such inter-State issues are ordinarily addressed through a civil suit under Article 131 , with Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka as parties. It also noted that the Central government has constituted a high-powered committee and suggested that Telangana place its objections before that body first.

Singhvi countered that Telangana had no mechanism to seek an immediate stay before the committee and described the situation as an emergency , warning that allowing construction to proceed would create irreversible facts on the ground. The Court, however, remained cautious about intervening while the statutory process was underway and posted the matter for further hearing on January 12 .

The dispute centres on Andhra Pradesh’s proposal to link Polavaram with the Nallamala Sagar/Banakacherla project , aimed at diverting Godavari floodwaters to drought-prone regions of Rayalaseema . Telangana maintains that the proposal goes beyond the original scope of the Polavaram national project and cannot proceed without fresh Central approvals and the consent of basin States.