Naidu seeks to complete first phase of Polavaram

Sixty-four years after the initial conception, the first phase of Polavaram multipurpose project is expected to be completed by 2018.

A buoyant Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Nara Chandrababu Naidu inspected the ongoing works at Polavaram that are being built in the west and the east Godavari districts of the state recently. He said that he will not let Polavaram remain a dream and would complete the first phase of the mega project as per the schedule.

The project aimed at stabilising ayacut in the Krishna delta by interlinking river Godavari with Krishna basin was envisaged in 1941 during the rule of the Madras Presidency. With the emergence of an alternative site located uphill where the width of the river was only 300 m, unlike 1500 m downstream, the proposed dam could not be taken up for construction on techno-economical grounds.

Finally, the foundation was laid in 1980 by the then chief minister T Anjaiah.  Actual work began in the year 2004, but was limited to construction of the right and left canals of the project.

In all, 644 tmc ft of Godavari water, which was simply flowing into the Bay of Bengal and hence, was unutilised,  was to be saved by the project. Floodwater was to be diverted to the deficient areas in both the Godavari districts — Krishna, Guntur and Rayalaseema — saving crops from drought due to the dwindling Krishna waters, year by year. Considering the importance of Polavaram for the residual Andhra Pradesh, it was given a national project status in the Bifurcation Act.

The dam across river Godavari will have a reservoir spreading across Telangana, Chhattisgarh and Odisha, submergence being a major reason for the inordinate delay. However, the NDA-led Union government has attached seven mandals in Khammam of Telangana, earmarked for submergence relief to Andhra Pradesh through an ordinance, immediately after assuming power.

According to the new plan, a concrete spill way of 5.5 km and spill channel are being constructed to enable discharge of 50 lakh cusecs of water making it one of the largest projects in the world. A non-overflow masonry dam of 560 m, an earthen dam of 1600 m, a reservoir with a capacity of 194 tmc feet of water and a power generating unit of 960 MW are to be built.

Along with a special financial package to AP equivalent to the special category state status, the Centre had announced that it would bear the entire cost of building Polavaram. Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley had, however, made it clear that only the irrigation component estimated at Rs 16,000 crore will be borne by the Centre. It is not yet clear whether the Union government will foot the bill of resettlement and rehabilitation (R&R). But the chief minister is hopeful that the package will cover the R&R component as well, amounting to another Rs 14,000 crore. “The cost of R&R itself will be more than Rs 25,000 crore, as the Land Acquisition Act proposes three times of the land value,” Naidu observed at a Cabinet meet in Amaravati.

Who will pay?
It was decided that the state and not the Centre will take up the national project, contrary to the norms. The state will spend money and then seek reimbursement from the Centre. This decision by the Telugu Desam Party (TDP) government made the Opposition raise several questions about the intentions of the state government.

“Why would the state government don the role of the Centre? The cash-strapped state can’t spend money upfront. The TDP government will handover the work to its pet contractors and siphon off the money,” alleged YSRC spokesperson Ambati Rambabu.

However, the state Irrigation Minister D Umamaheswar Rao refuted the allegations, saying that national projects take time to complete, whereas AP will take it up on war footing amid an impending water war with sibling state Telangana.

Meanwhile, the state government in a hurry to save the Kharif crop in the Krishna delta and the tail-end tracts, constructed movable Pattiseema lift on the already completed Polavaram right canal in a record time of one year.

The so called interlinking of Godavari with Krishna near Vijayawada became a basis for Telangana to seek its due share in the Godavari floodwater. While the demand is still pending, Naidu has unveiled plans for yet another lift called Purushottama Patnam Lift at a cost Rs 1,700 crore on the right canal.

While a total of 1,049 lakh cubic metres of earthwork was supposed to be done as part of project construction, 410 lakh cubic metres have been completed so far. The government has released Rs 3,000 crore for R&R. It is estimated that around 371 villages in seven mandals of East and West Godavari districts are to be covered under R&R package of the Polavaram project. As many as 1,88,012 people are expected to lose their livelihood. Of the total 1,80,906.46 acres needed for Polavaram project, the government has acquired 86,421 acres so far, spending Rs 1,771 crore. The government has to acquire 94,445 acres at a cost of Rs 9,866 crore.

In an effort to speed up the construction work, the state has imported high-powered machinery to carry out the earthwork. Currently, the chief minister is conducting a virtual inspection of the project works every Monday, and personal inspection every third Monday.
Furthermore, CCTV cameras will be installed around the Polavaram Project so that the progress of work could be monitored round the clock from the master control room set up in Amaravati.

To counter Maoist threat and to strengthen security measures at the project site, the workforce were asked to wear facial recognition and RFID (Radio Frequency Identification) bands.