VIJAYAWADA: Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy on Monday directed the officials of the water resources department and engineers of Polavaram Project to complete the spill channel and approach channel works of Polavaram project on a war-footing. Reviewing the progress of Polavaram Project works, the Chief Minister directed them to simultaneously complete the pending coffer dam works so that the floodwater in the river can be diverted through the spillway.
Officials informed the Chief Minister that earth and concrete works pertaining to the spillway are completed and the works of installing gates and hydraulic cylinders to them are being carried out in an expeditious manner. Officials assured the Chief Minister that the coffer dam works will be completed by the end of May.
During the discussion on spillway and cofferdam works, it was opined that constructing cofferdam before completing spillway delayed the works. It was opined that even cofferdam works were left incomplete, resulting in gaps and this led to the floods in the river at the project site at a discharge rate of 13 meters per second.
Officials said floods at such high velocity led to erosion at Gap 1 and Gap 2, which in turn created several problems in construction of the spill channel. They said they are now completely focusing on these issues.
R&R works Jagan took stock of the relief and rehabilitation of the displaced families under Polavaram project and directed the officials to ensure no lapses are there. During the meeting, the issue of the project height being reduced as reported in newspapers was also discussed at length.
The project engineers and water resources department officials made it clear that there was never a scope for the reduction in height of the project. They said the Central Water Commission and Union Ministry of Water Resources have made it clear that there were no discussions or meetings on the issue and rule out any scope for such a meeting in future. As per the project design at the set height, shutters (gates) are being fixed, they added.
Jagan also reviewed the inter-linking of rivers and instructed the officials to prepare proposals from the state to be submitted to the Centre. He wants those proposals to be such that interests of the State are safeguarded. “The proposals should be such that the interests of the people in the State are taken care of. They should not leave any scope for confusion and doubts. The proposals should be mutually beneficial,” he stressed. The proposals for inter-linking of rivers were discussed in view of the Centre’s proposals for interlinking Mahanadhi, Godavari, Krishna, Penna and Kaveri rivers.
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