Two more Rayalaseema water projects pass judicial preview, tenders soon
VIJAYAWADA: The stage is set for the water resources department to float tenders for two more projects proposed under the first phase of Rayalaseema Drought Mitigation Projects as the judicial preview vetted the tender documents and cleared them, recommending minor changes.
The two projects — upgrading Pothireddypadu and BCR complex canal system to draw 80,000 cusecs from Srisailam and lining of the existing Srisailam Right Branch Canal (SRBC)/Galeru Nagari Sujala Sravanti (GNSS) to draw 30,000 cusecs in between Gorakallu Reservoir to Owk Reservoir including Owk tunnel-III — along with the Rayalaseema Lift Scheme will help supplement in meeting the water needs of Rayalaseema, Prakasam and Nellore districts.
According to officials, upgrading the Pothireddypadu Head Regulators canals’ discharge capacity from existing 44,000 cusecs to 80,000 cusecs, along with improvements to SRBC/GNSS canal from Banakacherla Complex to Gorakallu balancing reservoir will cost about Rs 1,500 crore.
The lining of the existing SRBC/GNSS canal to draw 30,000 cusecs, as against the existing 20,000 cusecs, between Gorakallu Reservoir and Owk reservoir, including Owk Tunnel III to draw 10,000 cusecs, is estimated to cost Rs 1,450 crore. “Both the projects were cleared by the judicial preview on August 24 and August 26. We will shortly announce the tender schedule and invite bids,” an official said.
Another official added that the projects are critical to draw “the full extent of water allocation made by the Krishna River Management Board (KRMB)” from the foreshore of Srisailam as the number of flood days is dwindling.
With the above two projects, along with the Rayalaseema Lift Scheme, the officials have planned to draw the assured share of water in the available flood days — about 6 to 8 TMC per day for 15-20 days. It may be recalled that except in 2018-19 and 2019-20, the State could not draw the allocated share of 114 TMC since 2004-05. The average annual drawl from 2004-05 and 2017-18 stood at a mere 66.51 TMC.