Supreme Court flags inter-state route as Telangana seeks stay on AP’s Polavaram-Nallamala Sagar Project

New Delhi: Sparks flew in the Supreme Court of India on Monday as the Telangana government opposed Andhra Pradesh’s Polavaram-Nallamala Sagar Project (PNSP), accusing the neighbouring state of attempting to misappropriate its share of Godavari river water, TOI reported.

Appearing for Telangana, senior advocate A M Singhvi urged a bench led by Justice Surya Kant and Justice Joymalya Bagchi to stay the tendering process for preparation of the detailed project report (DPR) for the PNSP.

Singhvi argued that the Andhra Pradesh government had decided to move ahead with the project despite the Union government constituting a high-powered committee, headed by the chairman of the Central Water Commission, which had asked the state not to proceed.


The bench, however, questioned whether a writ petition filed by a state was maintainable when the core issue related to the allocation and implementation of Godavari water sharing between multiple states, including Karnataka and Maharashtra.

It asked Singhvi to seek instructions within a week on whether Telangana would instead file a suit under Article 131 of the Constitution, making Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka and Maharashtra parties to the dispute.

Opposing Telangana’s plea, Andhra Pradesh, represented by senior advocates Mukul Rohatgi, Jaideep Gupta and Balbir Singh, told the court that the project had Telangana’s consent at the time of the reorganisation of the erstwhile Andhra Pradesh.

Rohatgi submitted that the tender was only for preparation of the DPR for an irrigation project that proposes to use excess floodwater flowing through Andhra Pradesh, the lower riparian state.

Singhvi countered that there was no reliable mechanism to measure “excess” floodwater and alleged that the project was a guise to divert around 200 tmc of water allocated to Telangana.

He said Telangana was in the process of building multiple barrages to utilise its allocated share of 968 tmc. “This is a huge emotive issue in Telangana, as commissioning of the project would cut the state’s share of Godavari water,” Singhvi told the court, according to TOI.

Responding to the claim, Gupta questioned whether one state could block an irrigation project in another, particularly a lower riparian state. “What is an emotive issue? Telangana has already taken Hyderabad,” he said. Rohatgi added that the project aims to supply water to drought-prone regions and that DPR preparation was being pursued after approval of a pre-feasibility report.

The court is expected to hear Telangana again after it clarifies the legal route it intends to pursue.

With inputs from TOI