Revanth Reddy to meet Fadnavis on 26 October over the height of the Tummidihetti barrage on the Godavari

The height is the problem

The project has been stuck on a single number, the height of the barrage, which is measured as its full reservoir level. Maharashtra had earlier agreed to a level of about 148 metres. Telangana wants 150 to 152 metres to improve the area it can irrigate. Reddy has argued that a level of 152 metres would allow water to flow by gravity to the Yellampalli project, which would cut the electricity used and the cost of pumping.

A higher level means more land under water in Maharashtra, which is why a few metres matter so much. Every extra metre can put more villages, farms and forest under the reservoir and raise the bill for compensation and resettlement, so the neighbouring state's position is not an arbitrary one. For Telangana, a lower level could mean permanent pumping costs for the life of the project.

The talks have been slow to start. In May, Reddy said that Fadnavis had still not replied to his request for a meeting on the height. On 29 September, Reddy met the Union Jal Shakti Minister, C.R. Patil, in Delhi, told him that Telangana had sent a proposal to Maharashtra, and asked the Centre to help bring about an agreement between the two states at a level of 152 metres. On 23 October, Reddy said that Fadnavis had shown willingness to hold talks on the barrage, and the meeting was then fixed.

What could come out of the meeting

The meeting also has a political side. Reddy leads a Congress government in Telangana and Fadnavis a BJP-led government in Maharashtra, and the two have not always seen eye to eye. Reddy has in the past criticised the Maharashtra government for ignoring Telangana's requests on the barrage, and the fact that Fadnavis has now agreed to talk is being read as a change of tone.

There are three outcomes that people will be watching for. The first is a deal on a level, perhaps a figure between 148 and 152 metres, with a compensation and resettlement package for the families affected in Maharashtra. The second is an agreement to set up a joint technical committee to study the submergence and the benefits and report back, which would keep the process alive without a decision. The third is no progress, in which case Telangana is likely to go back to the Centre and press for its intervention.

The meeting also comes at a time when Telangana is dealing with a drought and reservoirs that are far below normal, which raises the importance of any new source of water for the north of the state. The state government has told farmers to defer a crop to save drinking water, and a barrage that is stuck on a dispute with a neighbour is a project it cannot count on for the coming seasons.

Even a deal on the height would not mean the barrage is quickly built. A project of this kind would still normally need technical approval from the central water bodies, environmental and forest clearances, and a compensation and resettlement plan that both governments accept, and each of those steps takes months. The meeting is therefore the start of a process and not its end.

For Fadnavis, the political question is how to agree to anything that puts land in Maharashtra under water without a package that local people will accept. Both leaders belong to different parties and have often differed in public, so the first meeting after many months will be a test of whether the two states can settle a river dispute by talking.