Vijayawada. Vijayawada: The bifurcation of erstwhile Andhra Pradesh helped the Polavaram irrigation project get the status of a national project and the establishment of the Polavaram Project Authority to oversee the implementation of the project. The more haste the respective state governments showed in completing the project, the more it got delayed.
The project is in dire need of Centre’s approval for the balance amount of Rs 12,157 crore out of the total revised cost of Rs 30,436 crore under Phase-1. The Centre’s approval will pave the way for the release of the remaining Rs 12,157 crore and reimbursement of the balance amount spent by the state government.
The water resources authorities are carrying out land reclamation work at the site where the earth-cum-rock-fill dam is to be constructed. As the authorities intend to go ahead with the construction of a continuous diaphragm wall parallel to the existing damaged dam, they are awaiting design approval from the Central Water Commission to take the work forward.
Once the D-wall issue is resolved and its construction is complete, the officials will begin work on the construction of the embankment where the ECRF dam will be constructed. As Andhra Pradesh awaits the onset of the southwest monsoon, there will be no work from July to October as the Godavari river is likely to flood. The work may resume only in November and continue till June. Regarding the progress of project execution, the total project works including land acquisition, rehabilitation and engineering works are 49.79% complete, with the dam height reaching 45.72 m at contour level. For engineering works, 75.77% work has been completed. Even after all design approvals and financial support are given, the project may take another two to three years to complete. “We are currently carrying out land reclamation work for the ECRF dam and we are waiting for approval for the design of the D-wall and other components besides the Centre’s nod for financial assistance to resume the project work,” said Narasimha Murthy, chief engineer in charge of Polavaram.
