POLAVARAM: AP tells Odisha, Chhattisgarh to give options on backwater issue

The Central Water Commission is holding a meeting in New Delhi on August 28 with these two states as also AP and Telangana, to discuss the impact of the backwaters on them.

As AP laid out its plan to erect the Polavaram Dam at a height of 45.72 meters by impounding huge quantum of water, Odisha and Chattisgarh have been raising the issue of a resultant submergence of their low-lying areas.

The CWC has conducted a study on this last year and advised AP to follow specific designs for erection of the various components for the project.

The AP water resources authorities maintain that they are scrupulously following these directions and are mindful of the impact of the project’s backwaters on other states too.

However, they say, the Odisha government must avail the options proposed by AP. The first option is that AP is ready to construct flood banks to avoid submergence of vulnerable areas in Odisha. As for the second option, AP has expressed its intent to compensate for the submergence.

AP irrigation authorities say that the Odisha government has not responded yet to its proposal. The Odisha government is yet to conduct a public hearing on the issue that should help it to frame proposals to resolve the issue, AP notes.

Once Odisha responds, Chhattisgarh too would hopefully present its proposals.

As for Telangana, AP feels its complaint on submergence of some low-lying areas is because small streams are not getting emptied into the Godavari river especially during the floods for the reason that the water level in the river rises beyond the level of the streams. As this is a natural phenomenon, much intervention is not possible to resolve the issue. Once the water level in the river comes down, the water in the streams will flow into the river and there will be no flooding of the low-lying areas, says AP.

Polavaram project chief engineer in-charge Narasimha Murthy said, “As AP goes by the CWC directions on the construction of Polavaram project and also on assessment of the impact of Polavaram’s backwaters, it is for Odisha and Chhattisgarh to come up with their proposals to address the issue.”