New Delhi: The Telangana government has withdrawn its writ petition in the Supreme Court regarding the Polavaram-Nallamala Sagar project, Tv9 Telugu reported.
The Supreme Court stated that the petition filed by Telangana is of no use and disposed it off. The court asked the state government’s counsel to for resolve the issue through other alternative means.
Telangana government lawyer, Abhishek Manu Singhvi, stated that they would withdraw the petition. The Supreme Court suggested filing a civil suit to hear the arguments of all states including Maharashtra, Karnataka, regarding violations of water allocations.
Telangana seeks to halt expansion works:
Telangana filed a writ petition on January 5 to seek directions from the apex court for Andhra Pradesh to halt all its expansion work to link Polavaram project to Banakacherla or Nallamala Sagar without required approvals.
The petition also sought to give directions to the Polavaram Project Authority to stop all the ongoing work. The government contended that Polavaram project should be executed strictly according to the approved plan and that expansion was illegal. It has objected to the Union government’s review of pre-feasibility reports of Nallamala Sagar project without taking Telangana’s objections into account.
AP’s defense of the project link:
Meanwhile, AP Water Resources Minister Nimmala Ramanaidu explained the rationale behind the Polavaram project link to Nallamala Sagar project and said that it was proposed to use only 200 TMCs of water out of 3,000 TMCs that currently flow into the sea every year. He said that AP has the right to use surplus flood waters without causing harm to legitimate rights of other states.
He stated that the aim of the project is to divert surplus water to drought prone Rayalaseema region and transform it into a fertile land and agriculturally prosperous area.