No dispute on Polavaram dam height as it comes up at 45.72 meters, say officials

VIJAYAWADA: The Polavaram irrigation project authorities have ruled out any dispute on height of the earth-cum-rock-fill dam as it is coming up at an acceptable FRL of 45.72 metres.

This was stated in response to a hue and cry by farmer unions that the dam height would be reduced. Officials stressed that they have no such proposal to reduce the dam height fixed at 45.72 metres. This height was decided by taking into consideration various parameters by the competent authorities. The dam designs have also been approved accordingly.

As the ECRF works are to be started from July, the project authorities are taking up the filling of the scoured portions on the riverbed at the diaphragm wall, based on directions of the experts from the Dam Design Review Committee.

After completion of these, they will be taking up works at the damaged portion of the diaphragm wall to erect a new parallel wall and join it to the existing diaphragm wall, which remains safe.

With regard to implementation of the resettlement and rehabilitation plans for the affected people, the state government plans to take up such works initially up to the level of 41.15 metres. This is expected to cost Rs 8,000 crore.

Chief Minister Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy has, in a public meeting held with the project-affected people earlier, assured them that the government would take up resettlement and rehabilitation at 41.15 metres level by evacuating and rehabilitating them in the newly set up R and R colonies as early as possible. If the R and R is to be implemented at 45.72 metres, the estimated cost is nearly Rs 33,000 crore and mobilisation of such huge funds is a major issue to be solved.

With regard to the project cost, it is estimated to be at '55,600 crore at the 2017-18 price level. Even the Central Water Commission has accepted the estimated cost at that level.

However, the Centre roped in the Revised Cost Estimates Committee to revise the cost of the project. It came up with a revision of project cost at nearly 47,700 crore at the 2017-18 price level. The Union Cabinet is yet to approve the revised project cost for the Polavaram project.

The Centre had declared Polavaram as a national project at the time of bifurcation of erstwhile Andhra Pradesh to form the new state of Telangana and promised to take up the responsibility to execute the project. But the then Telugu Desam government prevailed upon the Centre to allow it to execute the project with funds released by the Centre.

Sources from the water resources department maintain that funding of Polavaram project is a major issue to be resolved by both the AP government and the Centre, in order to go ahead with the execution of the project. This involves works pertaining to engineering and R and R. So far, engineering works of the project were over by 80 per cent and when engineering and R and R works were combined, only 42 per cent of the works were over.

Polavaram project superintending engineer Narasimha Murthy said, “We are taking up construction of the Polavaram dam at a height of 45.72 metres only and there is no dispute on the dam height.”