Andhra CM seeks to speed up Polavaram project

Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu on Monday urged his officials to send letters to Union Water resources minister Nitin Gadkari and Finance minister Arun Jaitley so that funds can be disbursed at the earliest in order to speed up the Polavaram project.

The Polavaram Irrigation Project has reached an overall progress of 52.2% till now, which includes the headworks, the right main canal and the left main canal.

"Out of the different elements of the project, the most progress was seen in the construction of the diaphragm wall. Out of a total 1,427m, this week saw the completion of 42m which leaves 251.4m remaining," said Naidu on the 57th review of the Polavaram project.

"71.3% of the excavation for the spillway and spill channel has been completed, i.e., 795.39 lakh cubic metres out of 1,115.59 lakh cubic metres. Overall, 2.29 lakh cubic metres of earthwork was excavated for the spill channel, pilot channel, spillway, left bank and approach channel," he added.

Out of the 45 proposed colonies for 16,687 houses, work has started on 38 of them and is yet to begin on 7 colonies.

Officials said 15 colonies for Rehabilitation and Resettlement of 3,348 displaced families have been constructed in East and West Godavari. This week, 29,000 cubic metres of earthwork was excavated.

31.36% of the concreting for the spillway and the stilling basin is completed, accounting for 5.14 lakh cubic metres out of 16.39 lakh cubic metres.

This week was the first time that concreting for spillway crossed the milestone of 5,000 cubic metres. Overall, 28,000 cubic metres of concrete was laid this week.

Other main components of the dam that have shown consistent progress are the fabrication of radial gates (58%), jet grouting for the downstream Coffer dam (78%) and upstream Coffer dam (49.6%).

Among the 53 priority projects, Pulakurthy Lift Irrigation Scheme and the Adavipalli Reservoir, which is a part of the HNSS Phase 2, will be completed by April 30.

The main civil works of the Nellore and Sangam Barrages are expected to be finished by May 31.