VIJAYAWADA: Taking cue from Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu’s penchant for inland water transport, the state government is eager to experiment moving building material and heavy machinery to Amaravati by Krishna River route from downstream of Pulichintala Project when the actual construction work begins.
Even as the work is on relating to making an assessment of how much land is required and where for developing national waterways -IV project connecting Kakinada and Puducherry with an investment of Rs.2,800 crore (AP portion), the government is simultaneously working on moving heavy machinery and building material to Amaravati through the river-route. According to official sources, the project report is more or less ready and would be submitted to the Inland Water Ways Authority for further action.
The officials are planning the river route as the existing road network is quite inadequate if any attempt to move the machinery by road is made. Primarily, it would only lead to traffic snarls all along the Hyderabad-Vijayawada national highway from Chillakallu near Jaggayyapet till Vijayawada.
The trucks would have to reach Vijayawada and then cross the Krishna River and then through the narrow roads, would have to reach Amaravati which is not only very arduous but also would lead to heavy automobile and dust pollution.
As most of the machinery and equipment is expected to arrive from Hyderabad it would be convenient if a waterway is built to move them across the river from a point close to Penuganchiprolu (Govinda Ghat) or from Ibrahimpatnam. If the material is moved from Penuganchiprolu (Govinda Ghat) it could easily reach Achampet in Guntur district and similarly if it is moved from Ibrahimpatnam, it could reach Vykuntapuram and Harishchandrapuram close to Amaravati.
The officials have more or less decided to build a navigation path from down of Pulichintala till Prakasam Barrage for a length of 83 km.
They want the depth of the path to be at least two metres so that a vessel of 1,000 tonne could move. The path needs to be 50 metres wide at the surface and 40 metres at the bottom.
The navigation path, categorised as a class III waterway, would help in moving the machinery which would be less expensive and not cause hardship to people. “The state irrigation department is conducting a survey in accordance with the specifications. The path has been identified and at places dredging has to be done to ensure a uniform depth and width.
As soon as the report is received further action will be taken,” a source in Inland Water Ways Authority said.
The source reiterated that they need to have a path that could take a 1,000 tonne vessel as it would meet the requirement if capital construction is done briskly and buildings are constructed at several places simultaneously. “If the path is for smaller vessels, then there would be a problem if the requirement is to move machinery faster to Amaravati,” the source said.
River Route, a blessing
■ From downstream of Pulichintala Project
■ Easy moving building material and heavy machinery to Amaravati
■ Existing road network inadequate to move heavy machinery
■ Depth of the path to be at least two metres for 1,000 tonne vessel to move