Water resource panel reaches Andhra to review Polavaram project status

A 15-member parliamentary standing committee on water resources landed in Andhra Pradesh on Friday to review the status of Polavaram major irrigation project being built on Godavari River, even as the state government is waiting for clearance from the Central Water Commission (CWC) to commence the construction of diaphragm wall, the most difficult component of the project, people familiar with the development said.

The standing committee, headed by Bharatiya Janata Party MP and former Union minister Rajiv Pratap Rudy, along with 27 senior officials from the Union Jal Shakti ministry, including from the CWC and Polavaram Project Authority (PPA), would visit the Polavaram project site on Saturday to inspect the project works.

A senior official of the state irrigation department said the visit of parliamentary committee comes at a time when the state government is all set to resume works on the construction of the diaphragm wall (D-wall), a horizontal concrete structure across the river bed on which earth-cum-rock fill (ECRF) dam is constructed.

“The committee will review the reasons for the delay in the project works, especially due to extensive damages caused to the previously-built D-wall and cofferdams due to August 2020 floods and breaches to guide bund. It will address key concerns during the tour,” the official said.

In July 2024, the Union Jal Shakti ministry roped in international experts’ team comprising David B. Paul and Gias Franco de Cisco (both from USA) and Richard Donnelly and Seas Hinsberger (Canada). They, along with CWC director Rakesh Toteja and deputy director Ashwani Kumar Verma, conducted inspections on the Polavaram project works to come out with solutions on repairing the damages.

“After a lot of brainstorming, it was decided to construct a new diaphragm wall at a cost of ?990 crore, instead of plugging the damaged portions of the old diaphragm wall, as there is a possibility of it getting breached again in flood waters,” the official said.

According to him, the state government is ready with the revised designs and material for the construction of D-wall, after holding in-depth discussions with domestic and international experts. “However, there were different suggestions on the type of concrete mix to be used for the construction of the new D-wall. While AFCONS Design Consultancy, IIT Tirupati, and foreign experts proposed one kind of mix, representatives of the Central Soil and Materials Research Station (CSMRS) suggested another mix.

“Foreign experts participated via video conference in the meeting held on Thursday night. We have decided to go by the design suggested by majority of the experts. We have submitted the design to the CWC for review. Once the CWC delivers its final decision, construction will begin,” the official added.