RAJAMAHENDRAVARAM: The Water Resources Department (WRD) is initiating steps to clear sand dunes in river Godavari, where lakhs of cubic metres of sand has accumulated over the years. As there has been no dredging, since 35 years, the sand has accumulated in the pond and the storage capacity of the pond is depleting, creating water problems to the farming community. The water storage capacity at the barrage will increase to 14 metres at 2.9 TMC of water.
An official, who doesn’t want to be identified, said it was proposed to clear as many as 65 lakh cubic metres of sand between Sir Arthur Cotton Barrage at Dowleswaram and Gamman India Bridge at Rajamahendravaram, in a distance of 10 km and the dredging will be taken up one km away from Sir Arthur Cotton Barrage.
A report has been sent to the government, about the places where the dredging will be taken up. A high-level meeting decided to complete the dredging operations in three years.