VIJAYAWADA: The Water Resources Department is in the process of getting the pending designs of the Polavaram project approved at the earliest. With only 14 of the 45 designs related to the head works of the national project getting the approval of the Central Water Commission (CWC) so far, the officials are corresponding with experts from institutions of national repute to get the designs vetted before seeking the CWC’s clearance.
Even though 56.9 per cent of the physical work of the national project has been completed till date, the officials are yet to conclude the designing part of some of the components. “Of the total 45 designs, drawings of nine are still in the making and are with various agencies. Twenty-two designs are pending for approval at the CWC. They asked us to get some of them vetted by experts from various educational and research institutes, and we are in the process of getting the same done,” a senior official from the department explained.
Even though the CWC had asked the State government to get the designs vetted six months ago, sources said it did not actively pursue it. Union Water Resources Minister Nitin Gadkari, during his visit to the project site on July 11, had reportedly asked the officials about the delay in finalisation of designs.
When asked if further delay in the design approval would affect the State government’s target date -- second half of 2019 -- to provide water, V Sridhar, Chief Engineer of Polavaram Irrigation Project, replied in the negative. “About 7-9 designs, which are still in the process of finalisation, do not pertain to the current phase of works that are underway. So, the ongoing work will not be affected.
The others are with the CWC and we will get them approved at the earliest,” he told TNIE. The officials further added that Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu, in the recent virtual review of the irrigation project, has also directed them to expedite the process so that it would not hamper the progress of the work.
“With the revised cost estimates of the project are expected to get a green signal from the Centre shortly, we are working towards getting all the designs approved at the earliest,” said another official.