Naidu meets Shah, Jal Shakti Minister C.R. Patil in Delhi; seeks push for Godavari-Cauvery river-linking

Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu met Union Home Minister Amit Shah in New Delhi on Thursday (October 8, 2026), during his two-day visit to the capital, and discussed various pending issues concerning the State, including those raised at the Southern Zonal Council meeting held at Mahabalipuram in Tamil Nadu in August. Mr. Naidu requested Mr. Shah to take the Godavari-Cauvery river-linking project forward and raised other matters that needed the Central government’s intervention.

Polavaram funds

Earlier in the day, Mr. Naidu called on Union Jal Shakti Minister C.R. Patil. The Chief Minister sought timely release of funds for the Polavaram project and for works taken up under the Jal Jeevan Mission-Amarajeevi Jaladhara (JJM-AJ) scheme at a cost of ₹30,000 crore.

He said Polavaram construction and rehabilitation and resettlement (R&R) works required for impounding water up to the 41.15-metre contour were going on at a fast pace, with the aim of completing them before the Godavari Pushkarams next year. He appealed to the Union Minister to resolve some long-pending issues involving Odisha and Chhattisgarh.

Mr. Naidu also sought the withdrawal of the stop-work order issued by the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change in connection with the public hearings on the protective embankments to be constructed in Odisha and Chhattisgarh as part of the Polavaram project. He also spoke of plans to develop Polavaram as a major tourism and spiritual destination.

On the JJM-AJ works, the Chief Minister said Andhra Pradesh had about 95 lakh rural households, of which 62 lakh already had tap water connections. Work on providing drinking water connections to another 27 lakh rural households was under way, he added.

Mr. Naidu had met Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Wednesday.