Polavaram Project faces major setback as upper cofferdam continues to crumble amid flood threat

The Polavaram irrigation project in Andhra Pradesh is facing a major threat due to worsening structural issues in its upper cofferdam, exacerbated by heavy rainfall and flooding. Despite emergency repairs, the ongoing failures have raised concerns over construction quality and apparent bias in media coverage.

Hyderabad: The Polavaram irrigation project of Andhra Pradesh is on the edge of disaster due to a major slide continuing in its upper cofferdam, raising fresh concerns.

The under-construction project, battered by continuous rainfall and a flood surge of nearly 8 lakh cusecs in the Godavari River, has suffered another setback. The cofferdam, a critical structure designed to divert water until the main reservoir is completed, is crumbling. The slide, initially reported to be 10 feet wide and 7 to 8 feet deep, has worsened, becoming a major source of worry for project authorities.

---

Continuous rainfall over the past 10 days has inundated the site, adding to the seepage issues and necessitating constant dewatering operations. Despite emergency repair efforts, officials’ claims of stabilizing the impacted cofferdam have proven ineffective, raising doubts about the structure’s ability to withstand ongoing flood pressures.

The Godavari water level at Polavaram currently stands at +28 metres, with the buttress dam downstream reportedly intact, averting immediate downstream impacts. This is not the first time the Polavaram project has faced such challenges.

In August 2020, massive floods with a flow of 21 lakh cusecs washed away the half-built upper cofferdam and caused severe scouring at two points of the diaphragm wall, constructed 90 feet deep into the riverbed. These recurring structural failures have sparked concerns about the project’s construction quality and its ability to withstand the Godavari’s frequent floods, casting a shadow over its promised irrigation benefits.

Hyderabad-based intellectuals have questioned what they perceive as a biased narrative surrounding infrastructure projects in the Telugu States. They point to the contrast in how setbacks are portrayed in Telangana and Andhra Pradesh, while the Polavaram cofferdam’s repeated failures are downplayed as a “sinking” or minor issue, similar incidents at Telangana’s Medigadda Barrage were labeled as a “collapse” and heavily criticised.

“What kind of logic is this?” asked the Hyderabad Intellectuals Forum, alleging that contractors, labourers and media brokers had united to shield the Polavaram project from scrutiny while unfairly targeting Telangana’s projects.