Hyderabad: Threat to Polavaram backwaters, TS looms large

Hyderabad: With the onset of monsoon, towns and villages situated along the Godavari river in the state are facing the threat of flooding. This is more so in the temple town of Bhadrachalam. However, the efforts by the state government to help mitigate the impact of the backwaters of the Polavaram project from neighbouring Andhra Pradesh have not been successful yet, even as the monsoon is about to gather momentum in the state.
T20 World Cup: India to take on arch-rivals Pakistan
Despite all the efforts made by the administration to deal with the challenges when the river is in spate, floods create havoc and it takes years for the victims to recover from the impact of the monsoon havoc. The people of Bhadrachalam have been paying a heavy price due to floods for a long time. Now that the Polavaram project has come downstream, the impact of the backwaters is adding to the grave threat. Though a flood protection bank has been built to cover vulnerable places around the city, it may not be of much help in case of extreme weather events like sudden heavy rains. The Godavari river in Bhadrachalam witnessed a massive flood on July 15, 2022. Over 20,000 people were evacuated from 62 villages and shifted to 77 relief camps set up in Bhadrachalam town. The flood level reached 71 feet, causing devastation in the area. The impact is eerily reminiscent of the highest ever flood level of 75.6 feet recorded in 1986. In the backdrop of extreme weather events reported at various places in the State and elsewhere, the State has been frequently writing to the Polavaram Project Authority and the Central Water Commission (CWC) to keep all its 48 gates fully open to keep the flood flow free in Polavaram during heavy floods in the Godavari.
The impact of such a flood would be devastating on the revenue mandals of Bhadrachalam, Burgumpadu and Palvancha. The state government has been pressuring the CWC and Polavaram Project Authority to map the areas prone to flooding in the Godavari by conducting a joint survey every year. Though Andhra Pradesh had given its go-ahead for such an exercise, it has not materialised yet. Other riparian states like Chhattisgarh and Odisha have also raised several concerns, but they are yet to be addressed. Despite the Supreme Court directing the CWC and PPA to address the concerns of neighbouring states, nothing came of it. There was no response from the PPA. The impact of the backwaters is blocking local streams, resulting in drainage problems as well. The PPA has been arguing that the impact of the Polavaram dam on areas of Bhadrachalam is minimal. Citing technical studies, officials said the flood level has only marginally decreased by 20 cm even though floodwater was released at around 50 lakh cusecs.