VIJAYAWADA: The Central Water Commission (CWC) is likely to approve the revised cost estimates or the detailed project report-2 (DPR-2) of the Polavaram project within a week.
In a meeting with the State Water Resources officials in New Delhi on Tuesday, the CWC is learnt to have set a deadline of November 20 to clear the DPR-2. “During the meeting, it was decided to clear the DPR-2 in a week. We are also expecting that a part of the revised estimates amount will be released soon,” a senior official explained.
It maybe recalled that the State government had submitted the DPR-2 with over 61,000 documents in August, 2017. The cost estimates of the national project had escalated from Rs 16,010 crore in 2010 to Rs 58,300 crore as per the 2014 rates.
The major reason for the drastic cost escalation, the officials informed the CWC, is the increase in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement cost. Earlier during the day, Water Resources Minister D Umamaheswara Rao said the Centre was delaying the approval of the DPR-2. He said if the revised estimates were approved, close to Rs 26,500 crore would be released.