Godavari Krishna river linking: Chandrababu Naidu’s feat

With waters from the Godavari river flowing into the Krishna river in Andhra Pradesh (AP), the idea of river interlinking has yet again found a place in national discourse. While the original plan to connect the two rivers demanded the construction of the Polavaram dam across the Godavari river, this mega project has been delayed and its fate is uncertain. This is where AP Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu can be credited for displaying the political dexterity to quickly reassess his position and come out with a low-cost, temporary solution with minimal impact on river ecology. The 174-km-long Polavaram right canal, meant to connect the Polavaram project with the Krishna river was near completion, and what Naidu has done is connect it with another pending small irrigation project, the Pattiseema lift irrigation scheme. The Pattiseema project lifts flood waters from the Godavari when it flows over 15 metres height, and transports it over four kilometres to the Polavaram right canal. Naidu also took advantage of the Godavari water sharing agreements between the riparian states, which entitles AP to divert 80 tmc ft of water to the Krishna river.

In his deft political messaging, Naidu has attempted to kill several birds with one stone. According to him, Krishna waters can now be diverted to Rayalaseema’s parched districts instead of letting the water flow through the Srisailam and Nagarjunasagar dams towards the delta region. Even while using the farmer-friendly rhetoric, what was left unsaid was that the added flow in the Krishna may also sate the water requirements of Vijayawada and the new Andhra capital, Amaravati. Central government agencies have estimated that around 644 tmc ft of unutilised Godavari water flows into the Bay of Bengal. Meanwhile, farmers in the Krishna delta region are facing increasing water scarcity as upstream consumption increased and required construction of more dams. This was the rationale behind the Polavaram project linking both rivers. But with disagreements persisting between AP, Telangana and Odisha over water-sharing, in addition to doubts about the location and technical feasibility of the reservoir, and the possible displacement of at least four lakh people, the Centre despite granting the project national status, has been reluctant to accelerate it.

The completion of the Pattiseema project has come just as the NDA government is renewing its attention to river inter-linking. In contrast, the UPA faced internal dissension on the idea and feasibility of interlinking projects.

Former environment minister Jairam Ramesh termed the Ken-Betwa link project as “disastrous” because it would submerge nearly 8,000 acres of forest land. But this Rs9,400-crore-project has received a fresh lease of life under the NDA, and is expected to be launched in December. It has been argued that river-interlinking can boost irrigation potential and drinking water availability. The Ken-Betwa project is expected to irrigate nearly four lakh hectares in six drought-prone districts of MP and UP. Most river-basins are located in ecologically fragile forestlands, and inter-basin transfer would require constructing dams and reservoirs, digging canals, and drilling tunnels through ecological hotspots. In pushing these projects, the government is signalling its readiness to face the huge financial costs and the consequences of environmental destruction for economic benefits and immediate human needs. Governments tend to prefer costly engineering solutions perhaps because of its potential to generate employment and benefit the industry, over localised, safer, cheaper and non-disruptive methods that can also help conserve rain and groundwater. Pattiseema was a relatively minor project, involving the use of existing irrigation canals with few of the complexities that usually underline river-interlinking. It would be inappropriate to consider its completion as a template for large river-interlinking projects.