VIJAYAWADA: The State government’s wait for the revised cost estimates of the Polavaram project to be approved by the Centre may take a little longer. Officials from the Water Resources Department said they were expecting the approval next month as a team from the Central Water Commission (CWC) is scheduled to visit the project site for inspection in the next few weeks. It maybe noted that the State submitted the revised estimates or the detailed project report-2 (DPR-2) of the national project exactly a year ago in August, 2017.
Officials from the Central institution are scheduled to visit the State in the next two-three weeks. “A team will visit the project site in the last week of August or the first week of September. They will inspect the scope of the project on the field. We expect the DPR-2 to be moved for the Technical Advisory Committee’s scrutiny after that. For now, we have submitted the necessary details in the form the CWC sought,” an official said.
The State Water Resources Department is hoping for approval at the earliest so that more funds would be released from the Centre. An average expenditure of `300-400 crore is being incurred per month. “We (State government) have given an advance payment of `2,900 crore to contractors. We have spent `2,500-`2,600 crore beyond approved costs. So it is important that there is enough flow of funds for the project’s momentum to continue. That is the reason we are seeking advance release from the Centre as well,” Chief Engineer of Polavaram Project V Sridhar told TNIE.
The officials are also expecting the designs pending with the CWC to be cleared. As per the officials, 21 designs related to spillway/spill channel, earth-cum-rock fill dam and gates are pending for clearance with the CWC. “As per the schedule notified to us, another seven pending designs are scheduled to be scrutinised by the CWC for approval in September and October. Three designs pertaining to spillway and spill channel and ECRF dam will be examined in September and four more related to the same works in October,” the officials added.