Polavaram project entangled in legal knots
HYDERABAD: Despite the passage of amendment to the Andhra Pradesh Reorganisation (Amendment) Bill in both Houses of Parliament paving the way for construction of the controversial Polavaram project across Godavari river in Andhra Pradesh, it will be difficult to execute the project in the near future as the project might be caught in legal tangles.
With several cases, including those filed by the Chhattisgarh and Odisha governments, pending against the proposed project and the Telangana government planning to take the legal route to prevent the merger of seven mandals of Bhadrachalam division of Khammam district with Andhra Pradesh and demanding a change in the design of the dam, the execution of the Polavaram in near future looks bleak.
When the government of the united state had begun the construction work in early 2006, the Chhattisgarh government lodged its protest with the Centre and the Godavari Water Disputes Tribunal, saying it would withdraw from the project.
Even the Odisha government had earlier objected to Andhra Pradesh redesigning the project for holding 50 lakh cusecs of floodwater as against the initial capacity of 35 lakh cusecs and wanted lowering of the dam's height to prevent submergence of Malkangiri.
According to former chief engineer of the Central Water Commission R Vidyasagar Rao, the Centre has to overcome all the legal tangles to execute the project. 'If all the legal hurdles are overcome, the project could be executed in three or fours years. But in the present situation, it seems unlikely,' he remarked.
The project has been delayed and the cost has been rising _ from Rs 10,151 crore in 2007 to Rs 16,010 crore in 2010 and now up to nearly Rs 20,000 crore.
About Rs 4,500 crore has been spent so far. Of the 1.60 lakh acres required for the reservoir, only 69,000 acres has been acquired. 'The dam is still some years away from becoming a reality,' he said.
News Posted: 15 July, 2014
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