Ordering the swift completion of the Polavaram project, Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu instructed officials to shoot off letters to Union Minister of Water Resources Nitin Gadkari and Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley, requesting for faster distribution of funds for the irrigation project.
In light of the ongoing Rehabilitation and Resettlement (R&R) projects, officials said that this amount will help in achieving the targets. 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 also informed the Chief Minister that 15 colonies for Rehabilitation and Resettlement of 3,348 displaced families have been constructed in East and West Godavari districts.
The Polavaram Irrigation Project has reached an overall progress of 52.2%, officials reported to Naidu during the 57th review of the project. This includes the head works, the Right Main Canal and the Left Main Canal.
Out of the different elements of the project, the most progress was made in the construction of the diaphragm wall. Out of a total 1,427 metres, this single week saw the completion of 42 metres, which leaves 251.4 metres remaining.
“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. This week, 29,000 cubic metres of earthwork was excavated,” A press release from the Chief Minister’s Office (CMO) stated.
“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,” the release quoted Water Resources Secretary Shashi Bhushan as saying.
Meanwhile, 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, the release stated.