As the Andhra Pradesh government is struggling to meet the deadlines for the completion of Polavaram irrigation project on river Godavari with 100% financial assistance from the Centre, chief minister N Chandrababu Naidu has come out with yet another ambitious irrigation scheme aimed at taking Godavari waters to the Krishna basin to provide irrigation to the parched lands of Rayalaseema.
Naidu unveiled the project at a meeting in the state secretariat in Amaravati on December 30. Estimated at ₹80,112 crore, the project aims at providing drinking water to 8 million people and irrigate 7.5 lakh acres in Kurnool and YSR districts in the backward Rayalaseema region, besides parts of Nellore and Prakasam in the south-coastal Andhra.
The CM named this interlinking Godavari-Krishna rivers project as “Telugu Talliki Jala Harathi” (Water tribute to Mother Telugu) and said it would be a game changer for Andhra Pradesh. “The Detailed Project Report (DPR) will be finalised within three months and tenders will be called shortly after that. Discussions with Union finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman have already been initiated,” an official statement from the CMO said, quoting Naidu.
According to the official note, the project will be executed in three stages. In the first stage, two tmc ft (thousand million cubic feet) of water per day will be diverted from the right canal of the Polavaram project to the Krishna River, with an estimated cost of ₹13,511 crore.
In the second stage, a reservoir will be constructed at Bollapalli in Palnadu district at a cost of ₹28,560 crore to facilitate transfer of water. In the third stage, water would be taken from Bollapalli reservoir to Banakacharla in Kurnool district at a cost of ₹38,041 crore.
To ensure execution, 48,000 acres of land will be acquired, and funds may be raised through a hybrid model involving private companies. “If private companies are involved, the government can adopt the payment model used in Rajasthan,” the official note quoted Naidu as saying.
An official in the state irrigation department said the biggest challenge in the project is the construction of a 27-km underground tunnel through the dense Nallamala forest range, which is a national tiger reserve.
“The water from the Bollapalli reservoir will be transferred to Banakacharla head regulatory through a gravity canal stretching 118 km to carry 24,000 cusecs of water. Of this stretch, 27 km of tunnel will pass through the Nallamala forests,” he said.
Since this is a wildlife sanctuary and forest conservation area, the tunnel is proposed to be entirely underground. The starting and exit points of the tunnel are planned to avoid the forest area. Water will flow underground throughout the forest region.
Along the route to carry water from the Polavaram reservoir to the Krishna river, there is no need to lift water and enhancing the capacity of the existing canals will suffice. The Polavaram right canal, already excavated for 187 km, has a capacity of 17,800 cusecs. It will be widened to increase its capacity to 28,000 cusecs.
“Additionally, the Tadipudi lift irrigation scheme canals, which currently provide Godavari floodwaters to the unified West Godavari district, need to be extended by another 108 km from their existing 80 km. The capacity of these canals, currently at 1,400 cusecs, will be widened to handle 10,000 cusecs. Necessary structures will also be built along these canals,” the official said.
As the project involves drawing floodwaters downstream from the Polavaram project without affecting other states, approvals are considered relatively easy by the state government. “Since it is the NDA which is in power both in the state and at the Centre, it might not be difficult to get approvals, including the environmental clearance for the project,” the official added.
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