Banakacherla project will benefit Telugu community: Andhra minister Nara Lokesh amid Telangana Govt's objection

Amaravati (Andhra Pradesh) [India], August 1 (ANI): Amid the Telangana Government's objection to the Banakacherla project, Andhra Pradesh Minister Nara Lokesh claimed that the reservoir project will benefit the Telugu community and sought their support.
He said that the TDP government in 2014-19 never objected to the construction of the upstream Kaleswaram project on Godavari, when the Telangana government started work without central approval.
"The Telugu Desam Party stands for the rights of Telugu people everywhere. The TDP Government in 2014-19 never objected to the construction of the upstream Kaleswaram project on Godavari, when the Telangana Government started work without central approval," Lokesh said in a post on X.
"We didn't write a single letter against it because the Telugu community would benefit from this project. The Banakacherla project utilizes only a small portion of the excess floodwaters of Godavari water draining into the sea each year. This project will benefit the Telugu community, and everyone should support it," he said.
The Godavari-Banakacherla Link scheme is a major project proposed by the Andhra Pradesh Government at an estimated cost of Rs 80,112 crore.
The plan involves diverting 200 TMC of water from the Godavari River at Polavaram to Rayalaseema through the Bollapalli reservoir and Banakacherla head regulator. The proposal seeks to interlink the Godavari, Krishna, and Penna rivers.
The project, which forms part of a larger river interlinking plan, has drawn sharp criticism from Telangana, citing its potential impact on interstate water-sharing arrangements.
On July 28, the Centre told Parliament that no construction had started yet on the Banakacherla-Polavaram project. In a written reply to the Rajya Sabha, Minister of State for Jal Shakti Raj Bhushan Choudhary said the Andhra Pradesh government had submitted only a Preliminary Feasibility Report (PFR) for the project.
In July, Telangana Labour Minister G Vivek Venkatswamy accused the previous Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) government of "neglecting" the state's interests in the proposed Banakacherla project.
"On the issue of Banakacherla water or any other issue. These are all mistakes made by the TRS government. It was during their time that the TRS government encouraged the Andhra government, then led by Jagan Mohan Reddy, to divert water from the Godavari, rather than trying to protect the use of Godavari water in Telangana... They have neglected the interests of Telangana," Venkatswamy had said. (ANI)