VIJAYAWADA: The Andhra Pradesh government is set for a legal battle against the Upper Bhadra project undertaken by the Karnataka government. The project aims to draw 29.9tmc of Tungabhadra waters even as the Bachawat Tribunal had not made any such water allocation.
On orders from Chief Minister Jagan Mohan Reddy, an SLP (special leave petition) would be filed by AP in the Supreme Court seeking an order to Karnataka to immediately stop the project work and protect the rights of the downstream state of Andhra Pradesh.
AP is worried that if the Upper Bhadra is completed, the Tungabhadra Dam, KC Canal, RDS (Rajolibanda Diversion Scheme), Srisailam, Nagarjunasagar along with the Krishna Delta would face serious problems for drinking water and irrigation purposes.
AP would seek a Supreme Court directive to the central government for revocation of the national status accorded to Upper Bhadra and the technical clearances given by the central water corporation (CWC) to Karnataka, without considering this state’s objections.
Karnataka took up the Upper Bhadra project in 2015 by using 11.5tmc of water left due to modernization of the Vijayanagar canals, the Tunga and Bhadra dams, the 10tmc allocated by the Brijeshkumar Tribunal (judgment not yet in force) based on 65 percent availability, the 2.4tmc out of the 21tmc allocated to Godavari waters that was diverted from Polavaram to Krishna Delta, and the 6tmc from K-8 and K-9 basins.
Karnataka formulated this project by lifting 17.40tmc from Upper Tunga into the Bhadra project. Some 29.90tmc was taken from there to irrigate 2,25,515 hectares (5,57,259 acres) in Chikmagalur, Chitradurga, Tumkur and Davangere districts.
YSRC leaders say when Karnataka took up the Upper Bhadra project without allocation of water, the then Telugu Desam government led by Chandrababu Naidu remained silent without raising objections. This violated the rights of AP over the Krishna waters, they add.
Further, by March 2019, Karnataka has completed the main canal works to carry water from Bhadra to Vanivilasa reservoir along with the main canals and lifts to flow water from Upper Tunga to the Bhadra project at a cost of Rs 4,830 crore. Karnataka shifted 3.44tmc of water to Vanivilasa reservoir in 2019-20, 6.61tmc in 2020-21 and 6.82tmc in 2021-22 through Upper Bhadra.
Water Resources Department ENC, Narayana Reddy, said the Bachawat Tribunal rejected Karnataka's proposal to allocate 36tmc for the Upper Bhadra project.
The Brijeshkumar tribunal allocated 9tmc to Upper Bhadra on the basis of a 65 per cent availability. But AP filed an SCLP in the Supreme Court against the notifying of the Brijeshkumar Tribunal judgment and to redistribute the Krishna waters to the four states. The Supreme Court also directed the Centre not to notify the Brijeshkumar Tribunal verdict.
Narayana Reddy said there was no water surplus due to the modernisation of Vijayanagara canals as also the Tunga and Bhadra dams. “There is no water surplus in K-8 and K-9 basins as Karnataka is using a lot of water.”
He said Upper Bhadra is an illegal project undertaken by Karnataka without allocation of water. As per the orders of chief minister Jagan Reddy, AP would wage a legal battle in the Supreme Court to stop the project.
Water Resources Department principal secretary Shasibhushan Kumar said the Jal Shakti department had itself violated the guidelines by granting national status to Upper Bhadra. Without allocation of water and without taking into account the views of the states in the basin, the CWC gave its technical permission to Upper Bhadra against the norms, he said.
"AP would file an SLP in the Supreme Court seeking an order to the central government to immediately stop the illegal construction of Upper Bhadra and cancel the technical permit and national status," he said.
