The Almatti dispute is one of several issues triggering an inter-state water conflict involving Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka and Maharashtra, and the Krishna and Godavari river basins. With tempers running high, the long-festering tensions are once again flaring up.
Published Nov 19, 2025 | 8:27 PM ⚊ Updated Nov 19, 2025 | 8:27 PM
Almatti dam.
Synopsis: The Telangana government has lodged a protest with the Union government against Karnataka’s decision to raise the height of the Almatti Dam despite a Supreme Court stay, citing a threat to its water security. At a meeting with Jal Shakti Minister CR Patil, Irrigation Minister N Uttam Kumar Reddy also challenged the legality of Andhra Pradesh’s proposed Polavaram–Banakacharla link and presented a six-point set of pending irrigation demands.
The Telangana government has lodged a strong protest with the Union government against Karnataka’s move to raise the height of the Almatti Dam on the Krishna river despite a Supreme Court stay.
Telangana Irrigation Minister N Uttam Kumar Reddy has accused Karnataka of “flagrantly violating” the stay by pushing ahead with land acquisition and issuing government orders to raise the Almatti Dam’s height from 519.6 metres to 524.256 metres.
“This is nothing short of contempt of the apex court and will cause irreparable injustice to the lower riparian state of Telangana,” Uttam Kumar told reporters after his 90-minute meeting with Jal Shakti Minister CR Patil in Delhi on Tuesday, 17 November. The meeting was also attended by the Central Water Commission chairman and senior ministry officials.
The Almatti dispute is one of several issues triggering an inter-state water conflict involving Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka and Maharashtra, and the Krishna and Godavari river basins. With tempers running high, the long-festering tensions are once again flaring up.
In 2013, the Supreme Court expressly restrained Karnataka from raising the full reservoir level of Almatti beyond 519.6 metres until the Brijesh Kumar Tribunal (KWDT-II) delivered its final verdict.
Despite the stay, the Siddaramaiah government, in July 2025, passed a cabinet resolution and issued GOs to acquire 18,000 acres for the proposed crest gate expansion, a move intended to store an additional 127 TMC of monsoon flows.
Telangana argues that augmenting the capacity of the Almatti Dam directly cuts into dependable flows into Nagarjuna Sagar, Srisailam and the Krishna Delta, particularly during deficit years when every drop counts.
Official sources say that if Karnataka is allowed to store flood water that would naturally flow downstream, Telangana will lose 80 to 100 TMC in a normal year, hitting the farmers where it hurts most.
Karnataka is unlikely to reverse its cabinet decision on Almatti without firm intervention from the Centre. Legal sources indicate that Telangana is preparing to move a fresh contempt petition in the Supreme Court if the Union government fails to take a stand in the coming weeks.
At Tuesday’s meeting, Uttam Kumar Reddy also raised another contentious project, the Polavaram–Banakacharla link, and drew a clear line. The project intends to divert surplus Godavari floodwaters westward into the Krishna basin.
According to Telangana government sources, the scheme rides roughshod over the Godavari Water Disputes Tribunal Award (1980), which categorically prohibits the utilisation of floodwaters without the unanimous consent of all co-basin states.
Maharashtra and Chhattisgarh, too, have raised red flags. “Andhra is trying to circumvent the law by changing the project’s name and terminal phase,” Uttam alleged. “We have put our objections on record and told the Minister in no uncertain terms that this is illegal.”
Any clearance for the Banakacharla scheme could open a Pandora’s box, triggering a four-state legal war and potentially delaying Polavaram, Andhra Pradesh’s flagship project, which it hopes to complete by 2027.
For the Telangana government, water issues are not just administrative matters; they are political touchstones, particularly in drought-prone Mahabubnagar, Nalgonda and fluoride-hit regions awaiting Palamuru–Rangareddi water.
Minister Uttam Kumar has also placed before the Union Minister a six-point charter of demands that, in Telangana’s view, has been stuck in red tape for far too long:
The Telangana government says that in the last 23 months, all 18 Phase 1 telemetry stations have been installed. It has spent ₹18,000 crore of its own funds on irrigation in 2024–25, the highest among states as a share of GSDP.
Jal Shakti Minister CR Patil is understood to have assured that immediate directions will be issued to the KRMB for completing pending telemetry stations and promised to examine Telangana’s objections on Almatti and Banakacharla “in accordance with law and tribunal awards”.
(Edited by Dese Gowda)
