Special Committee for Interlinking of Rivers likely to take up Godavari-Cauvery link on July 15

The meeting of the Union Jal Shakti Ministry’s Special Committee for Interlinking of Rivers (SCILR), slated for July 15, is likely to witness one more attempt on the part of the Central authorities to persuade Andhra Pradesh and Telengana to arrive at a consensus on the Godavari (Inchampalli)-Cauvery (Grand Anicut) link project, a scheme that will benefit Tamil Nadu considerably.

As regards AP and Telengana, the differences are over the way the two States approach the project. While the former views the project in an unqualified way, Telangana has been raising objections on a number of counts, one of which is that the project can be taken up only after the Krishna Water Disputes Tribunal (KWDT)-II completes adjudication of the Krishna water shares. Though the Tribunal submitted its final verdict in November 2013, the Union government, in October 2023, referred a couple of more issues. 

Apart from Tamil Nadu, which has been seeking the early implementation of the link project, the other States concerned are Karnataka, Maharashtra, and Chhattisgarh, in addition to the Union Territory of Puducherry. C.R. Patil, Union Minister for Jal Shakti, will chair the meeting, which will be held through video-conferencing. 

Of about 148 thousand million cubic feet (tmc ft.) of water to be diverted from Godavari, Tamil Nadu has been allotted 41 tmc ft. For Chennai city’s drinking and industrial usage, 10.1 tmc ft. has been set apart, according to the Policy Note of the State Water Resources Department for 2025-26. The State has been urging the National Water Development Agency (NWDA), the nodal agency for interlinking of rivers, to ensure that 200 tmc ft. be eventually provided to the State, when the diversion from Brahmaputra and Mahanadi link takes place.

The idea behind the Godavari-Cauvery link project is to make use of unutilised Godavari. There are three components: Godavari (Inchampalli)-Krishna (Nagarjunasagar) link, Krishna (Nagarjunasagar)-Pennar (Somasila) link, and Pennar (Somasila)-Cauvery (Grand Anicut) link. 

To an RTI query raised by the Satta Panchayat Iyakkam, the NWDA, in a reply on July 8, referred to the circulation of the draft Detailed Project Report (DPR) and the draft Memorandum of Agreement (MoA) for the Godavari-Cauvery link project to the States/UT concerned in January and April 2024. “Concerted efforts are being made” for signing of an MoA between the Union government and the States/UT for the early implementation of the project, the reply added.