The 28 August meeting will have representation from all five states and the Polavaram Project Authority who implements the national project.
Published Aug 15, 2024 | 6:00 PM ⚊ Updated Aug 15, 2024 | 6:00 PM
File photo of Polavaram dam under construction.
Polavaram Multi-Purpose Project’s backwaters issue is back into focus with the Andhra Pradesh government speeding up the works.
After the TDP-led NDA came to power in the state, Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu declared that Polavaram is one of the two top priorities of his government, the other being Amravati.
The Polavaram Project is on the Godavari river near Ramayyapeta village of Polavaram Mandal, about 34 km upstream of Kovvur-Rajahmundry road-cum-rail bridge and 42 km upstream of Sir Arthur Cotton Barrage in West Godavari district, where the river emerges out of the last range of the Eastern Ghats and enters the plains in Andhra Pradesh.
This multi-purpose major irrigation project is expected to create a gross irrigation potential of 4,36,825 hectares. The project also envisages the generation of 960 MW of hydropower, drinking water supply to a population of 28.50 lakh people in 611 villages and diversion of 80 TMC of water to the Krishna river basin.
The gross capacity of the project is 194 tmc of water.
As Naidu is moving ahead with the project, sensitising officials to get in touch with Delhi for the release of funds, the states that are likely to be affected by the backwaters of the Polavaram project are prespring to make their voices heard at the meeting called by the Central Water Commission (CWC) on 28 August at Delhi.
The meeting is in pursuance of the direction of the Supreme Court about two years ago after the stakeholder states other than Andhra Pradesh filed a petition expressing concern over possible submergence. The apex court wanted the CWC to listen to the grievances and evolve a workable solution to the problem of submergence.
After the apex court issued directions, the Central Water Commission constituted a committee with ENCs of Telangana, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Odisha, which a few times but the stalemate continued.
A meeting of the chief ministers was to be held but it never materialised as the Polavaram Project seemed to have remained a dead duck under the previous YSRCP government.
Following the TDP’s ascend to the governance of Andhra Pradesh, the controversy has come to centre stage once again. The 28 August meeting will have representation from all five states and the Polavaram Project Authority under whose aegis the Andhra Pradesh government implements the national project.
Telangana is getting ready to insist on a solution to submergence as a pre-condition to extend cooperation to the Andhra Pradesh government in project construction.
As the meeting date draws closer, the Andhra Pradesh government is understood to have informed Odisha that it would construct a flood bank to avoid submergence in Odisha and if it is not acceptable, it would pay compensation for the submergence.
Andhra Pradesh is expecting other states to come up with feasible and reasonable proposals for implementation.
According to sources, Andhra Pradesh believes that the flooding in Telangana is primarily due to the sudden swelling of streams, which struggle to flow into the Godavari River when the river is full during rains.
Once the floodwaters in the river recede, the streams can easily empty into it. Andhra Pradesh views this as a natural phenomenon and believes there is little it can do to address the issue.
However, Telangana is preparing to demand its pound of flesh in return for cooperating with the neighbouring state in the construction of the project.
In September last year, the states likely to be affected by the backwaters of the Polavaram project wrote to the CWC to take imitative in addressing their concerns.
Telangana urged CWC to take the initiative and address the issue as it had said it would, in its compliance affidavit filed with the Supreme Court.
The Telangana government, in the letter, had said that the Union government in its compliance affidavit that both Andhra Pradesh and Telangana had consented to a joint survey and the Polavaram Project Authority (PPA) would take measures based on the findings of the survey.
However, the so-called survey did not take place, Telangana had contended.
The state had been seeking the construction of protection bunds as it claims that 899 acres of land would be affected in six villages in Badrachalam and Burgampahad mandals when the water in the Polavaram Project is at full reservoir level (FRL) at 150 ft.
It is insisting that a joint survey of the river between Dummugudem Anicut and the state border should be taken up to assess the impact of the backwaters.
The state also wants all 48 gates of the Polavaram Project kept open throughout the water year to prevent submergence, flooding and inundation in Telangana.
The state argues that if water at the FRL of 150 ft at the project, backwaters would have a serious effect in Telangana. There is a possibility of drainage congestion and stagnation of streams which prevent them from emptying into the river because of the rebound of backwaters. The Telangana government had submitted documents to the Union government in support of its claims.
Meanwhile, the Andhra Pradesh government had assessed that it would require ₹12,157 crore to complete the remaining works of Phase I of the project.
“If Polavaram had been commissioned as scheduled, there would have been an irrigation facility for unserved lands. This would have improved agricultural production which, in turn, would have spurred the GSDP of the state and increased the spending power of the farmers. It means that there would be an increase in the collection of GST,” Chandrababu Naidu, while releasing a white paper on Polavaram on 28 June, 2024, said.
Elaborating on the way forward, the chief minister had said that the revised cost estimate for phase I at 41.15 metres (150 ft) of minimum draw-down level (MDDL) has been put at ₹30,436.95 crore by the revised cost committee. MDDL is the lowest level at which a reservoir’s water level can be drawn down to meet various needs.
According to him, after deducting the expenditure spent, the balance amount required for completing the project with the capacity to impound water up to 41.15 m arrived at ₹12,157 crore which has to be approved by the Union government.
The chief minister said that between 2014-19 his government had spent ₹11,762 crore on the Polavaram project but YS Jagan Mohan Reddy’s dispensation spent only ₹4,167 crore between 2019-2024.
“As soon as Jagan Mohan Reddy was sworn in, the Polavaram works came to a grinding halt. He removed the contractor thoughtlessly and transferred out all officials. An IIT team that inspected the project had said that the diaphragm wall had suffered damage, but Jagan was not aware of it for two years,” Naidu claimed.
It will be interesting to watch how Chandrababu Naidu crosses the hurdles to realise his dream of completing the project in the next four years.
(Edited by Muhammed Fazil)
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