E-Paper
T’gana to rope in IIT-H experts to study impact of Polavaram project on Godavari
Chief minister A Revanth Reddy directed the irrigation department to take help of the IIT-H experts to study how the backwaters of Polavaram project will affect the areas in Telangana
The Telangana government has decided to rope in experts from the Indian Institute of Technology, Hyderabad (IIT-H), to study the impact of the construction of Polavaram major irrigation project on Godavari river in Telangana, an official statement said on Saturday.
Considered to be the lifeline of Andhra Pradesh, the Polavaram multipurpose project is aimed at providing irrigation to 295K hectares (around 720K acres) of new ayacut, besides stabilisation of an additional existing 400K hectares of ayacut, apart from providing drinking water supply to 540 villages in East Godavari, West Godavari and Visakhapatnam benefitting a population of 285,000 and generating 960 megawatts of hydel power.
The project, coming up at Ramayyapet block in Eluru district, was declared as a national project in the Andhra Pradesh Reorganisation Act, 2024 with 100% central funding. Though it was supposed to be completed by June 2020 as originally scheduled, it missed several deadlines and the fresh one has now been fixed in 2027-end.
At a meeting with top officials of the irrigation department, chief minister A Revanth Reddy directed the department to take help of the IIT-H experts to study how the backwaters of Polavaram project will affect the areas in Telangana, especially in Bhadradri-Kothagudem district.
“A special officer will be appointed to coordinate with the IIT-H team. The officials have been asked to prepare a comprehensive report within a month,” an official note from the chief minister’s office said.
The chief minister also ordered for a comprehensive study on the threat of construction of the Polavaram project on the famous Lord Ram temple at Bhadrachalam. “Even as the Polavaram project is still under construction, the temple town of Bhadrachalam was submerged due to floods to Godavari river to the extent of 27 lakh cusecs in 2022,” the officials told Revanth Reddy.
The irrigation officials also brought to the notice of the CM the latest decision of the Andhra Pradesh government to take up Krishna-Godavari river linking project, diverting Godavari river from Polavaram to Banakacharla on Krishna river.
The officials informed Revanth Reddy that his Andhra Pradesh counterpart N Chandrababu Naidu gave a power-point presentation on this project before the media last week. They told him that the Godavari-Krishna link project is being taken up for utilising surplus flood waters without any permission.
The Telangana chief minister instructed the officials to raise the Telangana government’s objections with the chief secretary of the Andhra Pradesh government opposing this project. He also asked the state irrigation department to write to the Godavari river management board as well as the Union ministry of Jal Sakti, if necessary, to protect the interests of the state, the official statement said.
The meeting was attended by state irrigation minister N Uttam Kumar Reddy and the state government advisor (irrigation) Adityanath Das.
