Polavaram irrigation project phase-I to be ready by 2018

Rajahmundry: Exuding confidence on the Centre to release adequate funds for execution of the Polavaram irrigation project, minister for irrigation Devineni Uma Maheswara Rao stated that they would complete the phase-I of the project by 2018.

The minister inspected the progress of execution of the Polavaram project at Polavaram in West Godavari on Friday. Later, he told newsmen that they had roped in the foreign agencies like Bauer from Germ-any and another from the US along with Indian agencies to take up construction of diaphragm wall spread over about 1.75 km distance at a depth of 110 meters by using high-tech machinery.

He said that such wall is the largest structure in the world. He also said that they were going to constr-uct earth-cum-rock-fill dam and spill way would also be constructed having the ca-pacity to sustain 50 lakh cu-secs of water from Godav-ari river.

Referring to evacuation of the people from the project affected areas by providing relief and rehabilitation, the minister said that it would cost about Rs 10,000 crore and added that they were provide relief to the affected people as per the provisions of new land acquisition act.

He said that out of seven villages, people from four villages were shifted and efforts were on to shift the people from the remaining villages.

He said that 650 houses were constructed to rehabilitate the affected people. He turned critical against the YSRC chief Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy and ex- legislators belonged to the same party and Congress leaders for instigating the villagers not to vacate the villages to deliberately delay the execution of the project.  

He said that the state government had allocated Rs 100 crore to provide relief and rehabilitation to the affected people.

With regard to Polavaram Right Main Canal, he said that it would be completed by May, 2016 and sounded confident to complete the Left Main Canal also by 2017.

The minister said that they were going to complete several irrigation projects in an expeditious manner and accordingly, Handri Neeva project phase I and II would be completed by the end of 2016, Galeru-Nagari Sujala Sravanthi project phase-I by 2016 and phase-II by 2017 and Veligonda phase-I would be completed in 2016 and phase-II in 2017.

Reacting on allocation of meagre funds to Polavaram project in the general budget by the Centre, the minister said that the Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu was pursuing the issue with the Centre and added that he would be visiting the Centre in the second week of March to take up the issue with the Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the concerned ministers to release more funds for the execution of the project.