An agreement between Andhra Pradesh and Maharashtra for implementation of the Rs. 38,500 crore mega project of Pranahita-Chevella will be signed by the chief ministers of the respective states at Delhi today (05-05-2012). This will open a new chapter water sharing between the two states. The agreement will provide for constitution of three committees, one of them with Chief Ministers of the two States to oversee the implementation of the project. 

It has been a big relief to the AP government as Maharashtara has come forward not only to allow construction of the project but also will participate in it in spite of the pending legal battles between the two states with regard to Babli and 11 other projects. The agreement is the result of five years of correspondence held by Irrigation officials with their Maharashtra counterparts, particularly with E.B. Patil, Principal Secretary, Water Resources, undaunted by the continued litigation over Babli. Government officials described the understanding reached between the two neighbouring States as an "historic development" in inter-State cooperation, saying this will pave way for implementation of other projects like Lendi, Penn Ganga.

Pranahita-Chevella is the costliest of Jalayagnam projects requiring 3,466 MW of power which the then Chief Minister Y. S. Rajasekhara Reddy had approved. Andhra Pradesh has so far spent Rs 1,600 crore on various packages of the project, which was designed by a group of Telangana expert-engineers to utilise 160 tmcft of Pranahita water and serve 16.4 lakh acres in the most drought-prone areas of Adilabad, Karimnagar, Warangal, Nizamabad, Medak, Naglonda and Ranga Reddy.