Vijayawada: Construction of the Polavaram irrigation project’s new diaphragm wall would start at Polavaram village in Eluru district in November and this would last a year. The work for the dam would take one more year.
The flood season in Godavari river commences in July and continues till October every year. Hence, the water resources department’s decision to wait a while. They are also making arrangements to ensure that the works progress without disruption even during the next flood season.
The new D-wall will come up towards the upstream of the river from the old and damaged D-wall. The new wall measures to a length of 1.4 km. Its width would be 1.5 metres and depth a minimum of 40 metres to a maximum of 80 metres, depending upon the availability of rock in the river bed.
The dewatering of the construction area would be done during the next flood season so that the year-long works would continue without disruption.
The D-wall is the foundation for construction of the Polavaram Dam. Once the D-wall work is complete, the work for the dam will be taken up. It could take one more year.
Currently, the preparation of technical designs for the Polavaram Dam is on. Several agencies are involved in it and the Central Water Commission would take a final decision on these designs.
The Union Cabinet has given its approval for the phase-1 of the Polavaram project works, including land acquisition, resettlement and rehabilitation (R and R) that would involve a fund outlay of `30,636 crore. Out of this, `12,157 crore would be a compensation to AP.
The authorities are eagerly waiting for the central fund release so as to expedite the project works.
Project engineer in-charge Narasimha Murthy said, “The work would start from November. We are also coming up with technical designs for the dam so that once construction of the D-Wall is over, we can start construction of the dam also.”
Meanwhile, the state government issued an order for disciplinary action against former special collector for Polavaram project E Murali on charges of financial irregularities pertaining to land acquisition, resettlement and rehabilitation. An allegation is that a loss of `19.52 crore was caused to the state exchequer due to ‘wrong’ decisions.
