VIJAYAWADA: Megha Engineering, which took over the construction of the Polavaram irrigation project in November 2019, has completed 97.25 per cent of the spillway concrete works till March 1.Out of the 48 radial gates for the spillway, 42 have been installed, and works on the remaining six are going on expeditiously.
Out of the 96 hydraulic cylinders that have to be fitted to the radial gates, 84 have been fixed; all 24 power pack sets required for operating the gates have already been installed. The 10 river sluice gates and 20 hydraulic cylinders with 10 power packs to operate the gates were also installed.
The important works of fish lander pertaining to the spillway are nearing completion, and the guide bund on the left side of the spillway is also about to be completed in a short time. As much as 88.89 per cent of the concrete works in the spillway channel have been completed so far. At the same time, 81.38 percent of earth excavation works have been completed and 74.44 lakh cubic meters of earth in the approach channel has been excavated.
The 2,480 meters long and 42.5 m high upper cofferdam has been completed. On June 11, 2021, the natural course of Godavari river was diverted to the approach channel to an extent of 6.6 km. This was the first time that a river flow was diverted from right to left side by 6.6 km.