An all-party meeting held on Monday by the Andhra Pradesh government has demanded demolition of the contentious Babli project stating it was being used for irrigation purposes while denying the lawful share of river water to the lower riparian state.
The Maharashtra government had built this reservoir at Babli in Nanded district by investing around Rs 200 crore. AP has raised a legal dispute in the Supreme Court stating the project violates previous agreements on water sharing. A division bench is hearing the final arguments of both the states from tomorrow.
While endorsing the stand taken by the all-party meeting, state major irrigation minister Sudarshan Reddy said the government would make its case in favour of demolition of the project.
Though Maharashtra has maintained that the structure is being used only for drinking water requirements of local population, AP alleges it is being used for irrigation purposes while obstructing inflows into the irrigation projects built on Godavari river in the state.