Intn’l, CWC panels inspect Polavaram project site
On Thursday, the dam experts inspected the place where the state government proposed to build a new diaphragm wall across the river bed, on which the earth-cum-rock fill dam would be constructed.
Hyderabad A team of international experts and officials of the Central Water Commission (CWC) have started the exercise to resume works on Polavaram major irrigation project on Godavari, that suffered extensive damages due to heavy floods in 2020, people familiar with the matter said.
From Wednesday, the international experts’ team comprising David B Paul and Gias Franco de Cisco (both from the US) and Richard Donnelly and Seas Hinsberger (Canada), along with CWC director Rakesh Toteja and deputy director Ashwani Kumar Verma, have been conducting inspections on the Polavaram project works.
On Thursday, the dam experts inspected the place where the state government proposed to build a new diaphragm wall across the river bed, on which the earth-cum-rock fill dam would be constructed. The earlier diaphragm wall built during the previous Telugu Desam Party (TDP) regime in 2018 at a cost of ₹490 crore, suffered heavy damages beyond repairs during 2020 floods to Godavari.
An official from the state irrigation department said the experts team would come out the suggestions on new designs for the diaphragm wall, besides the upper cofferdam, which obstructs the flow of water towards earth-cum-rockfill dam during its construction.
“At present, the contractors are engaged in dewatering in the area, so that constructions could begin at the earliest,” the official said.
On Wednesday, the experts held a meeting with the officials of the CWC, Polavaram Project Authority (PPA) - that oversees the construction of the project, state irrigation department officials and representatives of contracting agency Megha Engineering and Infrastructure Limited (MEIL) - to deliberate on the designs of the cofferdam and diaphragm wall.
According to the official, though the major works like spillway and construction of right and left canals have been completed to a large extent, the damages caused to the diaphragm wall and cofferdam have been the major areas of concern.
“The state government has decided not to change the contractor whose alleged negligence led to the damages to the diaphragm wall at this stage as it would not only lead to escalation of costs, but also take more time. So, it has decided to go ahead with the same contractor who is engaging a foreign consultant to complete the works,” he said.
The he multipurpose Polavaram project, is intended for development of a gross irrigation potential of 4,36,825 hectares. The project also envisages generation of 960 MW of hydro power, drinking water supply to a population of 2.85 million in 611 villages and diversion of 80 TMC (thousand million cubic feet) of water to Krishna river basin.