The Telangana and Maharashtra chief ministers singed an agreement that would clear the way for constructing three new barrages by the lower riparian state on Godavari while protecting Maharashtra’s interests. The two states have decided to bury the old water disputes after the Telangana government modified the original plans by changing the height and alignment of these barrages in a bid to ensure zero submergence on the other side.

• Maharashtra’s endorsement comes as a major breakthrough for Telangana government as it was planning to build an extensive irrigation and drinking water infrastructure in the state by making full use of the allocated share in River Godavari, through a chain of lift irrigation schemes.

• In return, Telangana government has also agreed to give water from one of these barrages, for 30,000 hectares in border districts of Maharashtra.   the two states will work together to secure their interests in Krishna Basin, which was also shared by Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka.

• The agreement facilitates construction of three barrages, one each on River Godavari and two of its tributaries — Penganga and Pranahitha in Telangana.

• As per the modified plans, the state government proposes to construct a 100-meter height barrage with 16 tmc storage capacity on Godavari, from where it seeks take water through lifts to irrigate 1.81 million acres in six districts besides stablising another 1.8 millon acres of command area under the existing projects.