Mumbai : In a major victory for the State Government and loss of face for Andhra Pradesh, the Supreme Court on Thursday allowed Maharashtra to use the 2.74 TMC water of Godavari river by constructing the Babhali barrage in Nanded district for utilising Godavari river water. The court declined the plea of the Andhra Pradesh government against this construction.
The judgement will help to provide water to 58 villages and 8000 hectare of agricultural land in Marathwada region. “The decision will prove a major relief to drought-affected Marathwada region and our stand that Babhali is a barrage and not a dam has been vindicated by the Apex court,” Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan and Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar said while welcoming the decision. The court has also allowed construction of gates admeasuring 11 meter height. The State was fighting the legal battle for the last eight years. “The court has also agreed to state government’s stand that 0.6 TMC water can be released after March 1 and a three-member committee to be appointed to monitor the water release,” Pawar stated.
Nanded MP Bhaskararo Khatgaonkar while welcoming the decision termed the decision like a Diwali in Nanded. “This decision will provide water to 5 Talukas (blocks) and 3 Nagarpalikas ( city councils),” Khatgaonkar said. The State started the construction for Babhali in 2005 to which AP opposed strongly and claimed that this was a dam and Maharashtra was claiming that this was a barrage. Two years earlier, former Andhra CM Chandrababu Naidu also entered the area of the Babhali barrage and staged an agitation.
The apex court said, “On the basis of facts which have come on record, a case of substantial injury of a serious magnitude and high equity that moves the conscience of the court has not been made out by Andhra Pradesh justifying grant of injunction.
