Centre directs AP to conduct joint survey with Telangana on Polavaram backwater effect

The survey would ascertain the extent of submergence areas in Telangana if the water in Polavaram was maintained at full and minimum reservoir levels from July to September.

Hyderabad: Following the Telangana government’s appeal to the Centre to conduct a study to observe the effects on the backwaters of Godavari River due to the construction of Polavaram Irrigation Project in Andhra Pradesh, the Ministry of Jal Shakti on Friday wrote a letter directing the Andhra Pradesh government to conduct a joint survey on the effect of Polavaram backwaters.

Since the meeting of riparian States — Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Odisha on Godavari basin is scheduled to take place on January 13, the Ministry of Jal Shakti’s direction to AP has gained significance as Telangana, Odisha and Chhattisgarh have been complaining that there was a big difference between the permissions obtained for the construction of the Polavaram project and the ongoing works, which would result in flooding in their respective States.

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While Andhra Pradesh argued that the Polavaram project designs were approved only after scientifically assessing the impact of backwaters, the other States claimed that the technical studies on backwater effect were based on the river cross sections surveyed prior to 1990 and that the river course had undergone several changes in the last 30 years due to climate change, land use and sedimentation. Therefore, a fresh survey has to be conducted on the cross sections of the river upstream of Polavaram to assess the correct discharge of river from the project.

According to Telangana Irrigation officials, a joint team of irrigation engineers from Telangana and Andhra Pradesh would survey the impact of backwaters of Polavaram major irrigation project on the areas in Telangana during the Godavari river floods every year. The survey would ascertain the extent of submergence areas in Telangana if the water in Polavaram was maintained at full and minimum reservoir levels from July to September.

The joint survey would also study the impact of backwaters of Polavaram on the streams and tributaries like Kinnerasani and Sabari, which might swell due to the impact resulting in submergence of more areas than originally estimated when the project was conceived, the official said.

Telangana Irrigation Special Chief Secretary Rajat Kumar has been demanding the Centre to constitute a committee of a technical team comprising of chief engineers from all riparian States, besides experts from Central Water Commission(CWC) and National Institute of Hydrology (NIH) to study the backwater effects of Polavaram project on the riparian States.

Officials said the CWC had designed the Polavaram project spillway for discharging 50 lakh cusecs against 36 lakh cusecs as envisaged in Godavari Water Disputes Tribunal(GWDT) award. They stated that this would cause much more submergence effect in Telangana. Even Odisha has conveyed its apprehension about the construction of the Polavaram dam and expressed fear that the under-construction dam and the spillway would submerge a considerable area of its territory, including protected tribal areas.