Pattiseema lift scheme[edit]

The Pattiseema lift irrigation scheme is envisaged to pump water in to the Polavaram right bank canal such that
water can be transferred to the Prakasam Barrage to meet the Krishna delta irrigation needs till the Polavaram
dam is completed. This project was taken up on war footing to complete the scheme within one year by March,
2016. The lift scheme, consisting of 24 pump sets, has 8,000 cusecs total capacity to pump water in to Polavaram
right bank canal from the Godavari river located downstream of Polavaram dam. Already, phase I of this scheme is
put in to operation on war footing by October, 2015 with 1,000 cusecs pumping capacity to alleviate water scarcity
in Krishna river at Prakasam barrage which is facing unprecedented drought conditions.[2] This project is also
useful to pump dead storage water available up to dam crest level in Polavaram reservoir in to the Polavaram right
bank canal. When the Polavaram reservoir level is above the canal sill, water is fed by gravity in to the Polavaram
canals.

SANDRP

South Asia Network on Dams, Rivers and People

Godavari Krishna River Linking: Are we celebrating an illegal, unnecessary & misconceived water transfer project?

The national media seems to be celebrating linking of Godavari and Krishna River in Andhra Pradesh on
September 16, 2015 as the first major step towards Inter Linking of Rivers in India. An emotional Andhra Pradesh
Chief Minister Shri N Chandrababu Naidu called it historic and Pavitra Sangam (Holy Confluence)[1].

What is the reality?

Water transfer, not river linking First let us understand what happened in Andhra Pradesh on Sept 16. The Chief
Minister was to inaugurate the first pump (of the what is going to be a battery of 30 pumps) as part of the
Pattiseema Project to lift water from Godavari River from a location about 15 km downstream of the proposed
Polavaram dam site and transfer it to an intermediate canal of about 5 km length to already constructed
Polavaram Right Bank Canal, which will take it to Krishna River near Ferry/ Ibrahimpatnam village in Krishna
district, just upstream of the Prakasham barrage/ Vijaywada city (see the SANDRP map). Reports said[2] that the
Pattiseema pump did not start, and the water that was being transferred on Sept 16 was being pumped by the
existing Tadipudi Lift Irrigation Scheme, a couple of kilometers downstream from Pattiseema. The reports[3] said:
“The government has decided to draw 500 cusecs of water from the Tadipudi lift scheme with the help of three
pump sets to make Pattiseema scheme operational on an ad hoc basis due to non-completion of the latter’s
works.”

The Pattiseema project involves 30 Nos of Vertical Turbine pumps, each of 8 cumecs (Cubic Meters per Second)
capacity. The Pattiseema pump could be switched on only on Friday, Sept 18, to be switched off the next day, see
for details below (due to a massive leakage in the canal).

The first thing that is clear from this is that this is essentially transfer (by pump) of water from Godavari to Krishna.
This cannot be called River Linking. To label it so would show lack of understanding of what is a river. River is not
just the water that Pattiseema pump was attempting to transfer from Godavari. The claim of river linking by such
water pumping is clearly a false, misleading claim.

By Sept 24, 2015, two pumps were installed and two more had arrived the site, but in response to a controversy,
the Chief Engineer accepted that the pumps were only temporarily borrowed from the Handri Neeva Scheme! So
it seems even the pumps used at Pattiseema were borrowed from a Rayalseema project. The Cheif Engineer
confirmed that the water transfer would be stopped “by November” to complete the works related to the canal.

Project needs Environment clearance under EIA notification, but has not secured it As the Minister of Andhra
Pradesh (AP) Water Resources Department Shri D Uma Maheshwara Rao said, Pattiseema project involved
removing about 1.3 crore cubic meters of sand from the Godavari River Bed[4]. The kind of work involved in this
project can also be seen from the photo album of the project put up on the AP Irrigation Dept website[5]. The
Pattiseems project “is likely to throw up new environment and ecological issues affecting agricultural production in
thousands of acres en route, damaging the delicate biodiversity and inducing climatological changes in the
uplands of West Godavari and Krishna districts… Transfer of such a large quantity of water from one river to
another without conducting a proper environment impact study will do more harm than good” warns
environmentalists. In fact the Times of India report rightly concluded: “The state government should take up
environment impact study through a third party and take remedial measures before releasing water into the
canal.” [6]

What is clear from all this is that Pattiseema is a major new irrigation project with major components and impacts
on the river and surrounding area. Pattiseema Project was not part of the Polavaram project. However, Pattiseema
project has not sought or got the environment clearance that is necessary prior to undertaking any such activity. It
has not conducted environment & social impact assessment & management plan or public consultations.
Effectively, it has bypassed environmental appraisal and scrutiny completely! What this means is that at this
moment, the whole of Pattiseema project is in violation of the EPA 1986, EIA notification of Sept 2006 and is
illegal. Some of us have written a letter to MoEF to this effect on Sept 17, 2015, the letter can be seen at Annexure
1. No response has been received from the MoEF or the EAC on this.

Baseless claim that Pattiseema is for domestic and industrial water use! The AP govt GO dated January 1, 2015[7]
that sanctioned the Pattiseema project gives some details of the Pattiseema project with stated cost of Rs 1300
crores, the cost has reportedly now gone up to Rs 1400 crores. The GO misleadingly says that the project is for
“domestic and industrial use” when in reality, as is apparent from the statements of the AP Chief Minister, Water
Resources Minister and others, it is essentially for irrigation benefits for the Krishna Delta area immediately and
Rayalseema in future. For example, the reports[8] said: “Thousands of farmers in Krishna, Guntur, Prakasam,
Kurnool, Kadapa, Anantapur and Chittoor districts will gain from the Godavari-Krishna linkage.”

This is also clear from the fact that there are no details as to how this water will be used for domestic and
industrial use, either in the GO or anywhere else including in the statements of the CM and others. This baseless
claim has been added to mislead everyone and possibly escape the need for clearances as per the EIA notification.

CWC and techno-economic clearances not taken Section 84 of the AP Re-organisation Act, 2014 requires the AP
and Telangana governments to get projects like Pattiseema, involving the use of Godavari and Krishna waters duly
appraised, among others, by the Central Water Commission (CWC), before they can be undertaken. Apparently,
even this requirement stands infringed. Since the Pattiseema project involves Krishna and Godavari, both
interstate rivers, it also needs CWC approval, in addition to getting the Techno-Economic approval from the
Technical Advisory Committee of the CWC, which have also not been taken.

Pattiseema to benefit already irrigated area? Currently, Pattiseema project is transferring water that the Krishna
delta farmers can use. But Krishna Delta is already irrigated with water from Srisailam-Nagarjunsagar. The under
construction Pulichintala Dam is also supposed to benefit the same Krishna Delta. As Dr D Narasimha Reddy told
SANDRP, the Pattiseema project is going to benefit the same area that is already benefiting from more than one
project. The ultimate beneficiary of this transfer, it is claimed will be the drought prone Rayalseema area. Some
say that this is indeed Naidu’s move to cut the popularity of rival Jagan Mohan Reddy in Rayalseema area.

Can Rayalseema benefit from Pattiseema? It is suggested that when Pattiseema irrigates Krishna Delta, the water
that will be saved in upstream Srisailam Dam can be used by Rayalseema region. Dr. Y. V. Malla Reddy, Director of
Anantpur based AF-Ecology Centre says that there are essentially two projects through Rayalseema can possibly
use Srisailam water: Pothireddypadu and Handri Neeva. Both are essentially gravity cum lift irrigation projects,
taking water from Srisailam back waters only when water level at Srisailam dam is above 854 feet. The trouble is
that neither of the projects are fully ready, nor is the Srisailam dam water likely to reach anywhere near 854 feet
this year or in most years, so this claim of Pattiseema benefiting Rayalseema would need a large pinch of salt to
believe.
The Hindu agreed: “The logic is a bit convoluted in that there is no direct pipeline beyond the confluence of the
Godavari-Krishna rivers that will carry water to Rayalaseema.”

The Power Cost The reports, say: The PLIS consumes 2.712 million units a day, which is nearly half the daily power
consumption of the entire Vijayawada City, including its industrial units. The total power needed for operating 24
VT pumps each of 350 cusec discharge capacity with 24 synchronous motors of 4.7 megawatts capacity each
require a whooping 113 mw. The unit cost of the power for lift-irrigation purpose is Rs 5.64. That is, the total cost
of power consumption a day for the project stands at Rs 1.53 cr. The Pattiseema Lift Irrigation Scheme has been
designed to release water at the discharge rate of 8,500 cusecs. The government intends to divert 80 TMC of
Godavari water through the PLIS to Krishna. Even if the project continues to work 24×7, it will take about 90-95
days to pump out 80 tmcft of water. Even if we take the minimum amount required for the project to pump the
total 80 tmcft of water, the cost of power consumed will come to 90 days x 1.53 cr, that is Rs 137.7 cr. This is only
the cost of power and if the costs incurred on other heads like maintenance, etc., are taken into consideration, the
total cost incurred for the diversion of the water from Godavari to Krishna will be much more.[9]

The donor Godavari basin also includes Marathwada The most compelling logic of Inter linking of rivers proposal is
supposed to be transfer of water from water surplus to water deficit areas to solve problems of both the basins. In
the case of the Godavari Krishna River Link, Godavari is the donor basin and Krishna is the recipient basin. Donor
basin is supposed to be water surplus basin. However, Marathwada, India’s most drought hit region this year and
in recent years[10], is also in Godavari basin! Marathwada had till recently the highest rainfall deficit of 52%. Even
after some good rains in last couple of weeks, its total monsoon rainfall is just over 400 mm! With what stretch of
imagination can we say that this Godavari basin is surplus in water, ready to transfer to a needy basin?

The recipient Krishna basin donates 120 TMC water annually to Konkan The needy basin, in this case is Krishna
basin. If Pattiseema does function as designed, it can transfer 80 TMC (Thousand Million Cubic Feet: 1 TMC =
28.17 Million Cubic Meters, 80 TMC = 2253.6 MCM, but for sake consistency, we will use the unit of TMC that is
more popular in the south) of water in a normal year. However, this so called water deficit, needy, recipient under
the link under discussion, the Krishna basin, every year transfers about 120 TMC water to high rainfall Konkan area
through Tata and Koyna dams and further down to sea[11]! And that water profligacy of Krishna basin is on display
this year too! If we add the figure of virtual water export that Krishna basin does through its sugar production in
Maharashtra and Karnataka, that figure would go up manifold. Under these circumstances, how can we describe
Krishna basin as needy, needing water transfer from another basin?

This is not the first Godavari Krishna River Link (GKRL) The media described this pumping of water through
Pattiseema as the first Interlinking of Rivers and Mr Naidu called it first confluence of Godavari and Krishna waters.
In reality this is the third interlinking between Godavari and Krishna in Andhra Pradesh alone. The first GKRL
happened during British period, about 160 years ago when the two rivers were linked for navigation. As the Times
of India[12] reports: “The Eluru canals from Godavari and Krishna meet at Malkapuram village to form part of the
Kakinada-Pondicherry Buckingham canal.” About the second GKRL link, Dr D Narasimha Raddy wrote to me, “A 18-
km pipeline connecting effluents collected in Manjeera basin, a tributary of R. Godavari, links with River Musi, a
tributary of R. Krishna.” So what Mr Naidu inaugurated on Sept 16, 2015 is possibly the third Godavari Krishna link
in Andhra Pradesh, not the first.

In addition, as comment to this blog from JPGL pointed out, there are several schemes in Telangana pumping
water from Godavari basin to Krishna basin: “There are already four working lift water schemes in Telangana state
transferring Godavari or its tributary (Manjira) water to the Krishna basin. These are Manjira water supply to
Hyderabad located in Musi/ Krishna basin, irrigation water supply from Sriram Sagar reservoir across Godavari to
Musi, etc tributary basins of Krishna river, Hyderadad drinking water supply from Yellampalli barrage across
Godavari and irrigation water supply from Devadula lift irrigation scheme from Godavari river to Musi, etc
tributary basins of Krishna river. In addition there are four more lift irrigation schemes under implementation such
as Pranahita Chevella lift irrigation scheme, Kanthalapalli lift irrigation scheme, Rajiv Dummugudem lift irrigation
scheme, Indirasagar Rudrammakota lift irrigation scheme, etc in Telangana to transfer/lift water from Godavari
river for high lands irrigation in the Krishna basin.”

So clearly there are multiple other schemes already doing what Pattiseema has started down on Sept 16, now
abandoned due to the breach in the canal.

The Interstate ramifications Since Godavari and Krishna are interstate rivers, any water transfer between the two
rivers is bound to have interstate ramifications. Firstly, the Krishna Water Tribunal has directed that out of 80 TMC
water that is to be transferred from Godavari to Krishna, Andhra Pradesh share is 45 TMC and rest is to be shared
between Maharashtra and Karnataka. However, that was the situation before formation of Telanganga. Now with
the bifurcation of AP, Telangana will also get a share of water from what AP was to get earlier. In fact petitions are
pending in Supreme Court as to what should be the mandate of Krishna Tribunal in the aftermath of the
bifurcation, whether KWDT should only decide distribution between AP and Telangana or should all four states be
involved in fresh water sharing? In addition, there is the outstanding dispute related to the Polavaram Dam
impact, involving Chhattisgarh, Orissa and now possibly Telananga. There are suits pending in the Supreme Court
on these issues. Polavaram’s environment clearance also remains challenged and stands suspended by MoEF.

Incidentally, while the impacts and costs of the project will have to borne by Andhra Pradesh, the water
transferred will have to be shared with the basin states, particularly since Andhra Pradesh did not share the
project details with the basin states, nor got their consensus.

Why do sections of Andhra Pradesh polity see Pattiseema as wasteful expenditure? The Pattiseema project is to
essentially pump about 80 TMC of water from Godavari to Krishna. This was one of the several other objectives of
the Polavaram dam. Andhra Pradesh CM Naidu decided to implement Pattiseema considering the uncertainties
related to Polavaram dam, there is question mark over if and when the Polavaram dam will come up. So the AP
government took the unilateral decision to implement the Pattiseema project at a huge cost of Rs 1400 crores.
When Polavaram project becomes a reality, Pattiseema will be redundant since the transfer will happen through
gravity by the Polavaram dam and pumping will no longer be required. This is why there is opposition to
Pattiseema among many in AP, as wasteful expenditure. Many also see it as a Naidu’s ploy to get credit for the
water transfer that was already happening through Polavaram.

As The Hindu reported on Sept 25, 2015, “But both YSRC and Congress kept accusing the Government of
squandering a whopping Rs. 1500 crore on an “ill-conceived temporary project”, while deceiving the people of
West and East Godavari districts. Both parties had a point in that the project would become redundant once the
Polavaram project is built. The YSRC, besides questioning the long-term utility of the project, had alleged large-
scale corruption in the allotment of contracts.”

Moreover, the farmers in the Godavari basin have been objecting to the water diversion scheme ever since its
conception by the TDP government, claiming it will impact their future. People of Nallajarla and Gopalapuram
which fall under the Tadipudi Lift Scheme staged a demonstration at Guddigudem[13].

The Leakage in the Transfer! The hurriedly inaugurated water transfer has already “received a big jolt within hours
after launching the motors”, as the Polavaram Right Bank canal has already developed massive leaks[14] at
Janampet village where Tammileru river crosses the canal. The leakage is so massive that the Pattiseema pump &
Godavari Krishna water transfer have been stopped so that the damaged canal can be repaired. An aqua-duct
constructed at an expense of Rs 15 crores has breached, leading to damages and stoppage of water transfer, see
the map prepared by SANDRP. “We have been suspecting the danger as we were not allowed to work as per the
rule book. The breach is the result of completing the work without giving proper time for curing,” said an engineer
of water resources department. With the Naidu government insisting to be the first to link the rivers as part of
National River Linking Scheme, the officials raced ahead of time and rolled out the project with half or partially-
dug canal work. The engineers could finish the digging of canal just for about 20 metres width against the original
design of 80 metres width along 174 km long canal.[15]. The repairs could take 2-4 weeks.[16]
Even a pro ILR editorial[17] in the Pioneer accepted: “Finally, it goes without saying that the Government itself
must do its homework properly, including thorough environmental assessments and financial calculations, and
then ensure proper implementation. A poorly constructed aqueduct in the Godavari-Krishna link, for example,
breached within hours of the motor pump being turned on. This should not become the norm.” The trouble is,
lack of thorough Environmental Impact Assessment, manipulated economic, hydrological and financial calculations
and corruption ridden and poor construction are the norms.

This shows that Pattiseema project was hurriedly inaugurated when neither the Pattiseema pumps were available,
nor the link canal was ready, the whole thing was a misleading show!

In Conclusion While it is possible that such a water transfer could help Krishna Delta for now when almost all of
the reservoirs in the Basin in Andhra had low water shortage, we cannot afford to sideline the reality that a project
has been constructed, completed and celebrated in full public glare, without going through the statutory process
and obtaining required clearances. We also need to note the consequences of undue hurry, the full ramifications
of which are still unfolding. Moreover, there are serious question marks over the justification of transfer of water
from a basin that is drought stricken to a basin from where more water is being transferred to high rainfall area
and sea than what this transfer at best can achieve.

Such dramatic quick fixes are easy to appreciate and appear as if they are a result of courageous and prompt
decision making from the highest quarters. However, such one-sided decisions and projects which bypass the laws
of the land and bypass objective & informed scrutiny & democratic process do not bode well for the future of the
nation or future of water resources in India.

As you might have seen from extensive media coverage, the Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh yesterday
inaugurated the Godavari Krishna link through Pattiseema Lift Irrigation Project. This Pattiseema Project involves
building of a lift irrigation project on the river bed and banks of the Godavari River at Pattiseema, about 15 km
downstream of the Proposed Polavaram Dam site, in addition to a canal of around 5 km length to take the lifted
water to the existing Polavaram Right Bank Canal. It involved 30 Nos of Vertical Turbine pumps, each of 8 cumecs
(Cubic Meters per Second) capacity. As the Minister of Andhra Pradesh Water Resources Department Shri D Uma
Maheshwara Rao said in media reports, this involved removing about 1.3 crore cubic meters of sand from the
Godavari River Bed[18] (such dredging also needs Environment Clearance). The kind of work involved in this
project can also be seen from the photo album of the project put up on the AP Irrigation Dept website[19].

What is clear from all this is that Pattiseema is a major new irrigation project with major components and impacts
on the river and surrounding area. It was also not part of the Polavaram project. However, the project has not
taken the environment clearance that is necessary for any such project, it has not conducted environment & social
impact assessment & management plan, public consultations, has not gone through environment appraisal. Hence
the whole project is in violation of the EPA 1986, EIA notification of Sept 2006 and illegal.

The AP govt GO dated January 1, 2015[20] gives some details of the project with cost of Rs 1300 crores, the cost
has reportedly now gone up to 1400 crores. The GO misleadingly says that the Pattiseema project is for “domestic
and industrial use” when in reality, as is apparent from the statements of the AP Chief Minister, Water Resources
Minister and others, it is apparent that this is essentially for irrigation benefits for the Krishna Delta area. This is
also clear from the fact that there are no details of how this water is to be used for domestic and industrial use,
either in the GO or anywhere else including in the statements of the CM and others. This aspect has been added
to mislead and possibly escape the EIA notification.

Section 84 of the AP Re-organisation Act, 2014 requires the AP and Telangana governments to get such projects
involving the use of Godavari and Krishna waters duly appraised, among others, by the Central Water Commission
(CWC), before they can be undertaken. Apparently, even this requirement stands infringed. Since the Pattiseema
project involves Krishna and Godavari, both interstate rivers, it also needs CWC approval, in addition to getting the
Techno-Economic approval from the Technical Advisory Committee of the CWC, which have also not been taken.
Under the circumstances a project has been constructed, completed and celebrated in full public glare, without
going through the statutory process and obtaining the clearance. We urge you to issue notice to AP government
for violation of the EIA notification and Environment Protection Act and take necessary legal steps in this regard.

How can a people’s representative and so called CM of the state, blindly say , that he has liked two rivers by just
transporting the water, where already constricted canals . It is a share on him, that he is continuing his false
propaganda.

Reply

He is always a liar. He came to power by promising all farm loans would be waived all dwacra loans would be
waived job for every house pensions for all unemployment allowance for all and so on. But so far not even one is
even 10% fulfilled but going on propagandising that he already implemented loan waiver. He even threated the
people through two ministers to take lands of poor and middle class farmers in the name of capital. He even
resorted to torching of farms and also kidnaps to threatedn farmers. Now doing all dramas about even special
status which was promised by this liar and Modi in meeting after meeting , but now both are silent and when
opposition leader is trying to take the issue he is being denied permission to do dharnas.

Reply

Pattiseema project is truly interlinking rivers between Godavari and Krishna main rivers. The navigation link using
the Prakasam / Krishna barrage irrigation canal (Eluru canal joining Kolleru lake across Tammileru river) and Cotton
/ Godavari barrage canal joining Kolleru lake were used as the boats can travel in upstream direction in the canals.
Actually the canals used for navigation are feeding / out flowing in to the Kolleru lake. Godavari water can not flow
to Krishna river or vice versa with these canals constructed more than 100 years back.

There are already four working lift water schemes in Telangana state transferring Godavari or its tributary
(Manjira) water to the Krishna basin. These are Manjira water supply to Hyderabad located in Musi/ Krishna basin,
irrigation water supply from Sriram Sagar reservoir across Godavari to Musi, etc tributary basins of Krishna river,
Hyderadad drinking water supply from Yellampalli barrage across Godavari and irrigation water supply from
Devadula lift irrigation scheme from Godavari river to Musi, etc tributary basins of Krishna river. In addition there
are four more lift irrigation schemes under implementation such as Pranahita Chevella lift irrigation scheme,
Kanthalapalli lift irrigation scheme, Rajiv Dummugudem lift irrigation scheme, Indirasagar Rudrammakota lift
irrigation scheme, etc in Telangana to transfer/lift water from Godavari river for high lands irrigation in the Krishna
basin.

All above schemes are not transferring water from main Godavari river to main Krishna river except the the
Pattiseema lift scheme which is a supplementary project of ongoing Polavaram Project. Pattiseema lift project is
not a temporary project till the Polavaram barrage/dam is constructed. The live storage capacity of Polavaram
reservoir is only 75.2 tmc above canal’s full supply level of 41.15 m MSL out of gross storage 194 tmcft. The live
storage is adequate to meet all the water needs of Polavaram project and downstream Cotton barrage needs not
more than two months duration after the monsoon season (end of September). With the Pattiseema lift nearly
100 tmc of dead storage above the crest level/ MDDL of power house can also be used every year for three more
months.

Regarding sharing water out of the 80 tmc water transfer from Polavaram reservoir, Karnataka and Maharashtra
states are entitled to use 35 tmc water of unallocated surplus water from Krishna river once the CWC recommends
the project for implementation to the Government which was done in the year 2009 itself. There is no need of
completing the Polavaram project to actually transfer the Godavari water to the Krishna river. There is no
discussion on this valid agreement among the riparian states in the disputed tribunal award of Justice Brijesh
Kumar (KWDT2) as it seemed to have negated this agreement and allotted 93% of the total water available in the
Krishna river without sparing required average yearly environmental flows and salt export water needs.
In case water is exported to the Krishna river basin from other river basins (Godavari, Mandovi, Netravati, etc), the
ongoing going Bachawat tribunal award (KWDT1) stipulates that no state is barred from raising water dispute or
right to contest the other state claims under interstate river waters dispute act. When an upstream riparian state
imports water from other states, the salt load in the river basin is enhanced by the amount of dissolved salts
present in the imported water. When all the imported water is used / evaporotranspirated in the upstream state,
the salinity/alkalinity of the water is enhanced in the river water received from upstream states by the the
downstream states (particularly last riparian state) which is not suitable for use/ not of equal use similar to water
quality available in upstream states. If new state Telangana is eligible for water share out of 80 tmc water from
Polavaram link, AP state is also eligible for nearly 40% of Godavari water transfer to the Krishna basin area taking
place from the commissioned and future projects. Otherwise, the Krishna river water available in its area will be of
inferior quality reducing its productive value in agriculture and domestic uses.

The gist is that Pattiseema is not a temporary project as claimed by the politicians and is the first true inter link
between Godavari and Krishna main rivers. The water sharing of transferred Godavari water by the riparian states
are to be implemented by the central government as per the Interstate river waters dispute act by creating a
empowered Bachawat tribunal award (KWDT1) implementation board . Otherwise Andhra Pradesh state is the
main looser as it can not stop excessive / unallocated Krishna river water use by the upstream states in a river
basin with regular water scarcity.

Reply

Many thanks, Mr JPGL, your comments as usual are very informative and useful. I have added the information
about the existing and planned Godavari-Krishna links in Telangana from your comments to the blog, referring to
your comment.

If you know such links also existing/ planned (one scheme that is planned in Krishna Marathwada LIS, but that has
not yet got the sanction from the Krishna Tribunal, Krishna Tribunal has expressly prohibited it) in Maharashtra, let
us know.

Reply

I am not against importing water from other river basins to a river basin which is facing water shortage in any state
but not at the cost of other states benefits. The trend is that no state cares to bother the central laws or central
government, other states and supreme court verdicts, while using available river waters within its reach including
for irrigation use.

India is going to achieve water security along with energy security by harnessing unlimited solar power which has
become cheaper than all other methods of electricity generation without contributing much pollution. Once
electricity is surplus and affordable, pumping water by 600 meters height ( 2 units power consumption per cubic
meter) is not a problem in future. Nearly 200 billion cubic meters of surplus water is joining sea from the coastal
rivers of Western Ghats located in Kerala, Karnataka and Maharashtra.

Initially the water stored in the reservoirs of the existing hydro power stations of Maharashtra, Karnataka and
Kerala located in western ghats are the lucrative options/possibilities to transfer by lift canals / tunnels to the east
flowing rivers like Kavery, Vaigai, Krishna, Godavari rivers, etc for the uplands irrigation in Tamilnadu, Karnataka
and Maharashtra states. Later most of the rivers water available up to sea level can be pumped to the east flowing
peninsular rivers with more pumping head (up to 600 m height). In India, 98% cultivable land and 95% of
population are located below 600 meters elevation.

Reply

There are many rivers interlinking already executed in India. Some are:
Orissa is diverting Harabhangi tributary of Vamsadhara river to Rushikulya river in Orissa effecting downstream AP
state.

Orissa is diverting Indravathi tributary of Godavari river to Tel tributary of Mahanadi river basin.

Andhra Pradesh is diverting water from Tungabhadra reservoir across Tungabhadra tributary of Krishna river to
Penna river basin.Andhra Pradesh is diverting water from Tungabhadra tributary of Krishna river to Penna basin.by
KC canal.Andhra Pradesh is diverting Krishna river water from Srisailam reservoir to Penna basin.by
Pothireddypadu deep cut canal.

Andhra Pradesh is diverting Krishna river water to Penna and other medium coastal river basins.in Andhra Pradesh
by Handri Neeva lift canal. Andhra Pradesh is diverting Krishna river water from Srisailam reservoir to Channai
drinking water needs via Penna and other coastal rivers.

Andhra Pradesh is executing diversion of Krishna river water from Srisailam reservoir to Gundlakamma river
basin.through tunnels.

Andhra Pradesh is planning to divert Krishna river water from Nagarjunasagar reservoir by extending its right bank
canal up to Kandaleru reservoir to transfer water to many coastal rivers including Penna river. This link is termed as
true link between Krishna and Penna rivers

Karnataka planning to divert water from tributary Vedavati of Krishna river to Palar river basin in Karnataka

All the barrages/dams on big and medium rivers in coastal areas are water diversion canal schemes to transfer
water to the adjacent medium and minor coastal rivers in all coastal states.

Reply

I think Pattiseema project was temporarily devised to defeat the delays in the sanctioning of permissions to the
main Polavaram Project which may take years and is enmeshed in legal controversies up to the level of the
Supreme Court. For lifting water from obviously waters inside Andhra Pradesh and transporting/transferring those
waters to some other point in Andhra Pradesh only to link to the Polavaram right canal from that point may not
involve such delays and legal controversies, hopefully. Of course, if successful, it will also fetch mileage to the
current government. All these considerations should have gone into starting and pushing for completion of this
project at the earliest. Of course, motives of corruption and moneymaking are also there in every project in India.

The real intention of the Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh in grounding the Pattiseema Project appears to make
available 80 TMCFt/year of water for domestic, industrial and other uses on a permanent basis for use in
Amaravathi – the world-class new capital of Andhra Pradesh state he conceived in a 33,000- acre land with the
expertise of Singapore.

The Godavari is a water surplus basin downstream as opposed to upstream unlike the Krishna which is reverse. So
there is no problem in lifting 8500 cusecs of water in the monsoon and diverting it to the Krishna. The power used
is also negligible compared to the huge lifts being constructed in Telangana and Rayalaseema. The govt. should
construct another scheme for the left canal also.

What I object is the manner in which the scheme was constructed in a hurried manner for cheap publicity. In fact
not even one cusec of water reached the Budameru diversion channel as construction of the Polavaram canal is
still in progress. You can see pictures of the canal on the Hindu website. What they did was emptied a tank and as
rains were there , the Budameru was also in flow and they just hyped it to the media and the national media
bought it up. If one follows the Pattiseema project right from the beginning it reeks of corruption as the govt.
promised to give 21% excess if they completed within one year. The cost for similar pumping schemes is only
Rs,700-800 cr as opposed to the Rs.1300 cr for which tenders were called.

Corruption in irrigation is so much easier as the people are willing to forgive.

It is as usual that ultimately ruling party has to bear the blame for the failure of the engineers. The aqueduct
which is not part of Pattiseema lift failed because the end spans are left as cantilevers and just resting on filled up
soil of the canal. The end wall of the aqueduct were not constructed at the both ends of the temporary aqueduct.
With a good and appreciable intention, AP govt wanted to commission the right bank canal by temporary stop gap
measures wherever structures and canal stretch is not existing. Govt. wanted earlier partial commissioning of the
canal within 6 months such that 8500 cusecs (original 17,500 cusecs) can be pumped from the Godavari river to
Krishna river to provide some relief (20 to 30 tmc water to Krishna basin) in the unprecedented water scarcity
experienced in this year.

Pattiseema project was awarded in a Swis challenge type open tendering with pre-notified terms and conditions.
The terms include a additional payment (15%) for completing the project earlier (within one year) than the normal
period of completion specified in the contract. If another contractor is ready to execute the contract cheaper, he
could have contested/claimed the contract but nobody came forward. Earlier contracts execution durations are
repeatedly extended by citing various delays and engineers in charge of the works also happily recommend cost
escalations as genuine and justified. Polavaram right bank is one of such example which was started nearly 10
years ago but not completed even wherever there is no land acquisition litigations. Engineers and the revenue
officials extend all the cooperation to the contractors in delaying the works completion. They allow the contractor
to take up first the earth works where profit margin is good to the contractor and not the long time consuming
structures like aqueducts and under passes, etc. Chief Engineers/ secretaries do not insist for a detailed project
schedule and do not bother to monitor the critical items execution which needs expertise, adequate construction
machinery and time.

Everybody certifies element of corruption but do not give even a prime fascia evidence. When government takes
up some works with good intention and pursued the works with close monitoring, it can not be blamed by the
neutral observers for the design / engineering failure on the part of engineers.

I agree that a similar pumping station is needed (like Pattiseema lift) for the Polavaram left bank canal also.

Reply

It is the Government’s job to ensure that engineers do the right thing. When government’s take credit for success,
they should take responsibility for failures.

What is the qualification of the Minister for Irrigation and his background? Need I say more.

Who is the contractor for the project? For the blind, deaf and those who favour their caste, nothing is evident or
obvious.

This is in response to your article on the Pattiseema river linking on your SANDRP website. Unfortunately there are
some factual discrepancies in your article and along with that I would also like to make some of my views known
on the Polavaram dam issue.

The Godavari river is water surplus in the downstream part and water deficit in its upper reaches. It is surplus only
after the Pranahita, Indravati and Sabari join it. In Marathwada and Western Telangana it is water deficit. Even in
the famous 1986 flood which is supposed to be India’s largest recorded flood of 36,00,000 cusecs the Sriramsagar
dam was not filled. Thus diverting 8500 cusecs for the right canal and an additional 8500 for the left canal will not
make a difference due to the flow.

The whole reason why Polavaram is vehemently supported by a large number of people in AP is because it will
supply water to the Krishna delta, and an additional 7.2 lakh acres including 23 TMC to Visakhapatnam. Currently
the Krishna delta gets 80 TMC of water from Nagarjunasagar and in the Bachawat tribunal this water was
supposed to be transferred from Polavaram. Of the 80 TMC 35 TMC will go to Karnataka and Maharashtra.
Telangana is also demanding a share. So Rayalaseema will benefit but only to a small extant of about 25 TMC but
even that is much better than nothing. That is why Dummugudem – Pulichintala or NSP tailpond project is also
needed. It will save about 50 TMC from the NSP left canal and make the Palamur lift in Mahbubnagar and other
projects in Rayalaseema viable.

This year for the first time in 158 years more than 4 lakh acres of the Krishna delta has been left fallow. So if
Pattiseema is completed then there will be no problem.

The Krishna is a dead river and due to many illegal projects in Maharashtra and Karnataka AP is not getting its due
share of water. The KWDT 2 has allowed Karnataka to increase the height of the Almatti dam increasing its
capacity to 300 TMC. If this is completed then AP will not get water until the beginning of October by which more
than half of the Kharif season will be completed. Thus by relieving the Krishna delta water can be diverted from
Srisailam to the perennially drought prone areas of Rayalaseema and Telangana.But the AP govt has to complete
the pending works on the Pothireddipadu diversion channel which it has not even touched now. Unless those
works are not completed, Rayalaseema will not benefit.

I agree that a lot of water is wasted for power generation into the sea at Koyna and Tata water projects. Koyna
generates 1960 MW only at peaking times for Mumbai and it would be very difficult for us to stop it as the KWDT
2 has increased its allocation by another 25 TMC. We all need to stop this diversion for the benefit of the drought
prone areas of interior Maharashtra.

The Pattiseema lift is a much better alternative than the Polavaram dam. If fact it is a boon to the opponents of
the dam as when the objective of river linking has been met what is the need for a dam that costs so much and
displaces more than 2.5 lakh people. The Polavaram dam is a terminal dam and needs to be built last after all
upstream dams are built to avoid sedimentation and prolong its life. Its live capacity would be silted up withing 25
years if the siltation rates at Srisailam and Nagarjunasagar are taken. Srisailam lost 104 TMC in 28 years and
Nagarjunasagar lost about 140 TMC since it has been built. But at Polavaram the Godavari carries 10 times as
much sediment than at Srisailam. What is the need to spend more than Rs.7000 cr on a dam and an additional
Rs.7000 cr on rehabilitation and resettlement ? K.L.Rao opposed the dam after the 1953 flood and felt that there
was no suitable site for a dam and preferred a barrage. T.Hanumantha rao gave a suggestion to build barrages that
would help minimize displacement and also help both Telangana and AP, but the govt is not too keen as building a
dam is more lucrative for them.

The cost of power is not much when compared to the other lift schemes in Telangana. It would not even cross the
power consumption of farmers in the ayacut area. The cost would be much lesser than the interest payment of
the dam.

The reason why the govt is pushing for a dam is that the flows of the Godavari drastically decrease after October
to around 40000 cusecs or lesser. As Telangana is building lift schemes upstream it would be difficult to even save
the first crop forget the second.Also the second crop in the Godavari delta is the most preferred crop due to high
yeilds and also to prevent salt water ingress into the delta. Even though Pattiseema will not solve these problems
a series of barrages on the Godavari and Sabari along with supplementation for the Rabi crop from the Sileru
hydro projects as is being done now will make Polavaram redundant.

Regarding why no other contractor has come forward everyone knows how the process was rigged. Most of the
Polavaram project canals have been finished but only parts where the govt has not paid the contractors have been
held up. Only after it has been declared as a national project has work speeded up.

The canal near Vijayawada has not been completed and it was all a hogwash that they wanted to give water this
year. Its all just show and eventually the govt’s reputation got damaged due to the Janampeta incident. Also a tank
was breached and its water was diverted to the Budameru diversion channel on the day of the opening.

I should say extremely poor research by the author. Interlinking of Godavari & Krishna rivers thru Polavaram
project has already received EIA/EMP approvals long ago. There has been extensive communication between state
government & Environment ministry regarding the environmental impact before the approval was given. Author
fails to articulate what are the new variants Pattiseema brings to the discussion regarding transfer of water on the
same Polavaram canal for which EIA/EMP approvals have already been obtained.

Author also makes an extremely ridiculous argument of Krishna basin transferring 120TMC to Konkan basin. How
is this even remotely applicable for Pattiseema discussion? Does the author fail to understand that westward
diversion of Krishna waters has been allowed Bachawat tribunal itself in 70s?

The author has published the facts which may not be to the liking of the caste riddled brains of pseudo
intellectuals from Andhra Pradesh.

10 reasons why AP needs Pattiseema Project

1. The Polavaram Headworks are in progress and about 11% of works are completed so far. Only 5% of the Dam
works have been completed.

2. Even though the State Government is determined to complete the Headworks including Canal system within 4
years, certain major issues such as inter-state matters with Odisha and Chattisgarh, court cases, Rescue &
Rehabilitation issues have to be resolved to stick on to the target date.

3. Every year about 3,000 TMC of Godavari water is draining into Sea during the monsoon season.

4.In order to reap early benefits pending completion of Polavaram, rnheadworks, the government has sanctioned
the Pattiseema Lift Irrigation rnScheme to lift 8,500 cusecs of water from river Godavari into Polavaram Right Main
Canal during the monsoon season, when there is surplus water over the SACB Barrage.

5. River-linking: The water will be lifted into the Polavaram Right Main Canal and through Right Main Canal the
Godavari water will be diverted into Krishna River above Prakasam rnBarrage.

6. The reason for taking up the project on war-footing basis was to save backward region of Rayalaseema from
drought conditions.

7.We can irrigation of 1.20 lakh acres in Krishna and West Godavari rnDistricts. Further, about 10 TMC of water to
be supplied for domestic and Industrial use in West Godavari and Krishna

8. The river-linking facilitates in raising early seed beds in Krishna Delta and stabilizes the Krishna Delta ayacut.

9. The Krishna water thus saved in Krishna Delta due to augmentation from Godavari River can be retained in
Srisailam Reservoir.

10.The water so retained in Srisailam Reservoir can be utilized for the rnsurplus water-based Projects of
Rayalaseema - Handri Neeva Sujala Sravanthi (HNSS), Gaaleru Nagari Sujala Sravanthi (GNSS), Telugu Ganga and
irrigation, drinking water and industrial water needs of the Rayalaseema Region can be met.