VIJAYAWADA: Close on the heels of the approval for the revised design of lower cofferdam of the Polavaram project by the Dam Design Review Panel (DDRP) during its recent meeting, Union Minister for Jal Shakti Gajendra Singh Shekhawat will visit Polavaram project on March 4. The development is expected to expedite the project works.
Shekhawat’s visit to the Polavaram project comes in wake of Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy’s meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi in January to discuss Polavaram and YSRC MPs’ meeting with him in Parliament during the budget session.
According to sources, the Jal Shakti Minister will commence his visit by going through a photo exhibition arranged at the spillway about the progress of the Polavaram project. It will be followed by a visit to fish ladder works and guide bund works. The minister will hold discussions on upper cofferdam works and earth cum rock fill (ECRF) dam works.
Later, he will inspect the powerhouse, ECRF Dam Gap 1 area, lower cofferdam works, Gap III works, radial gate works, which will be followed by a review of the ongoing works.
During his recent Delhi visit, the Chief Minister explained to the Prime Minister and later to Sakhawat about the need for the expedited completion of the Polavaram national project. Jagan had also sought earlier approval of revised cost estimates for the project, which were already cleared by the technical advisory committee and Central Water Commission.
During a virtual meeting with Polavaram Project Authority (PPA) CEO Chandrasekhar Iyer, Andhra Pradesh Engineer-in-Chief (Water Resources) C Narayana Reddy, Polavaram Project chief engineer Sudhakar and other officials, DDRP chairman discussed the revised design proposal for lower cofferdam.
During the previous regime, the construction of ECRF dam and two cofferdams (upper and lower) were taken up even before spillway works were completed. This led to the flooding of the gaps between the two cofferdams, in 2019 and 2020. Further, the lower cofferdam area suffered erosion in an area to an extent of 220 metres long and 36 metres deep.
The Andhra Pradesh water resources department proposed to construct a diaphragm wall at the site where erosion occurs and further strengthen it by a layer of sandbags and a layer of geo-membrane bags in the areas abutting it. The eroded place has to be plugged with 15 lakh cubic metres of sand, geo-membrane bags and cover the same with 9.17 lakh cubic metres of soil.
The lower cofferdam will prevent diverted river water from going towards ECRF and allow the completion of the works taken up in the gap without interruption. The DDRP chairman approved the design.