State Decides To Demolish Babli Project

At an all-party meet held in the city on Monday, the state government resolved to demand for the demolition of the Babli project on October 16, when the final hearing for this case will be held at the Supreme Court. Headed by Major Irrigation Minister P Sudarshan Reddy, the meeting was attended by the leaders of the Congress, the TDP, the TRS, and the CPI parties.

The parties came to the conclusion that the demolition of the project was the only way to protect the Sriramsagar project, which serves 5 districts in the Telangana region.

The controversy around this irrigation project arises from the fact that the project is being built on the Godavari, where it could illegally siphon off 65 tmcft (thousand million cubic feet) of water that would otherwise go towards the Sriramsagar project acayut that provides for the irrigation needs of Karimnagar, Adilabad, Nalgonda, Warangal, and Khammam districts in Andhra Pradesh.

Another bone of contention is the gates that have been illegally erected at the project, obstructing the AP government from even checking on the project and its potential impact on the water supply in the state.

Referring to the Supreme Court's suggestion that the AP government take over the Babli project, Reddy spoke about the futility of such a venture considering that the dam is being constructed on Maharashtrian soil and thus rendering AP's ability to check irregularities moot.