The groundwater resources had been exploited to critical levels with several regions continuing to experience over exploitation despite the sustained regulatory and conservation measures undertaken by the State Government, Vijay said. The project would facilitate the transfer of surplus floodwaters from water-surplus basins to water-deficit regions, he said, adding that the National Water Development Agency (NWDA) had prepared the Detailed Project Report (DPR) for the Godavari–Pennar–Palar–Vellar Link as Phase I of the larger project. Requesting that the inter-linking of the rivers be treated as a project of national importance and taken up on priority basis, he said its implementation could iron out differences between States through constructive consultation and cooperative federalism. So,considering the strategic importance and far-reaching socio-economic benefits, the link project should be taken up on a fast-track basis and given the status of a “project of national importance,” he said. Vijay requested Modi to direct the Ministry of Jal Shakti and the NWDA to expedite consultations with the stakeholder States and facilitate an early consensus on the outstanding issues.