A mid mounting criticism by TDP and BJP that the technical bids for the Rs 4,714-crore Polavaram Project were cornered by contractors allegedly close to Telangana Rashtra Samithi president KCR, The TRS chief has written a letter to chief minister Mr N Kiran Kumar Reddy urging the government to cancel the tenders forthwith and put a halt to the construction as advised by the Union government till the matter is adjudicated by the Supreme Court. 
History :
In July 1941, the first conceptual proposal for the project came from the erstwhile Madras Presidency. Later Diwan Bahadur L. Venkata Krishna Iyer, then chief engineer in the Presidency's irrigation department, made the first survey of the project site and made a definitive proposal for a reservoir at Polavaram. The full reservoir level was proposed to be at 150 feet (46 m) and the approximate water storage was 1,000,000,000 cubic feet (28,000,000 m3). Iyer not only visioned cultivation of 350,000 acres (140,000 ha) over two crop seasons through this project, but also planned for a 40 megawatt hydroelectric plant within the project. The entire project was estimated to cost about
6.5 crore (US$1.45 million). By 1946-47, the estimated cost rose to 129 crore. Due to additional enhancements to the project, the estimate of project in 2004 stood at 8,621 crore.
In 1980, then Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh T. Anjaiah laid the foundation stone for the project. However the project stayed idle until 2004 when the Y. S. Rajasekhara Reddy-led government came to power.In 2004, the Government of Andhra Pradesh sanctioned1,320 crore (US$294.36 million) for the project.Soon after, tenders were issued for the commensurate worth of services for the right canal of the project. For the left canal, another 1,353 crore were sanctioned by the state government
Purpose :
National River-Linking Project, which works under the aegis of the Indian Ministry of Water Resources, was designed to overcome the deficit in water in the country. As a part of this plan, surplus water from the Himalayan rivers is to be transferred to the peninsular rivers of India. This exercise, with a combined network of 30 river-links and a total length of 14,900 kilometres (9,300 mi) at an estimated cost of US$120 billion (in 1999), would be the largest ever infrastructure project in the world. In this project's case, the Godavari River basin is considered as a surplus one, while the Krishna River basin is considered to be a deficit one. As of 2008, 644 tmcft of underutilized water from Godavari River flowed into the Bay of Bengal. Based on the estimated water requirements in 2025, the Central Water Commission recommended that sizable surplus water was to be transferred from the Godavari River basin to the Krishna River basin The project intends to use the diverted water for not only to benefit a cultivated command area of 175,000 hectares (430,000 acres), but also to supply water to coastal city of Visakhapatnam for domestic and industrial purposes through a 208 kilometres (129 mi) long canal
Controversies :
The proposed project would displace 276 villages and 44,574 families spread across three districts of Andhra Pradesh . Tribals constitute 50% of such a displaced population Human Rights activists came out against the project because of these reasons. In addition, one activist pointed out that this interlinking of the rivers will harm the interests of the Telangana and Rayalaseema regions of the state. Environmental activist Medha Patkar said that the project not only will displace several thousands of families, it will also submerge several archeological sites, coal deposits, a wildlife sanctuary and several hectares of farm land.
Sixty-four years after the initial conception of the project, the Government of Andhra Pradesh secured the environmental clearance from the central agency in 2005. This clearance was obtained after the state government prepared a4,500 crore forest management plan and rehabilitation and resettlement proposal covering 59,756 hectares that were being lost under the project. In addition, 40,000 was to be allotted for each dwelling to be constructed for the displaced as against 25,000 provided by other states. Despite this clearance, the project faced political roadblocks. The Communist Party of India (M) and Telangana Rashtra Samithi were troubled with the issue of submerging agricultural lands and the detriment to Telangana, respectively.
Meanwhile, work on the project began in April 2006 and was expected to be completed by February 2007. After 30% work of excavation work on the canals and 15% of the spillway works had been completed, the work was halted in May 2006 to seek clearance from the Ministry of Forests and Environment.
The neighboring state of Orissa also expressed its concern on the submerging of its land and decided to study this together with the officials from Andhra Pradesh. In response, Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh Y. S. Rajasekhara Reddy clarified that neither Orissa nor Chattisgarh would be affected by the construction.The problem continued until 2010, when Chief Minister of Orissa Naveen Patnaik remained steadfast in his demand for compensation and rehabilitation of tribals of his state who would be displaced due to the submerging of their land.
Regards
M Chandra Prakash
mchandraprakash@rocketmail.com
History :
In July 1941, the first conceptual proposal for the project came from the erstwhile Madras Presidency. Later Diwan Bahadur L. Venkata Krishna Iyer, then chief engineer in the Presidency's irrigation department, made the first survey of the project site and made a definitive proposal for a reservoir at Polavaram. The full reservoir level was proposed to be at 150 feet (46 m) and the approximate water storage was 1,000,000,000 cubic feet (28,000,000 m3). Iyer not only visioned cultivation of 350,000 acres (140,000 ha) over two crop seasons through this project, but also planned for a 40 megawatt hydroelectric plant within the project. The entire project was estimated to cost about
6.5 crore (US$1.45 million). By 1946-47, the estimated cost rose to 129 crore. Due to additional enhancements to the project, the estimate of project in 2004 stood at 8,621 crore.In 1980, then Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh T. Anjaiah laid the foundation stone for the project. However the project stayed idle until 2004 when the Y. S. Rajasekhara Reddy-led government came to power.In 2004, the Government of Andhra Pradesh sanctioned
1,320 crore (US$294.36 million) for the project.Soon after, tenders were issued for the commensurate worth of services for the right canal of the project. For the left canal, another 1,353 crore were sanctioned by the state governmentPurpose :
National River-Linking Project, which works under the aegis of the Indian Ministry of Water Resources, was designed to overcome the deficit in water in the country. As a part of this plan, surplus water from the Himalayan rivers is to be transferred to the peninsular rivers of India. This exercise, with a combined network of 30 river-links and a total length of 14,900 kilometres (9,300 mi) at an estimated cost of US$120 billion (in 1999), would be the largest ever infrastructure project in the world. In this project's case, the Godavari River basin is considered as a surplus one, while the Krishna River basin is considered to be a deficit one. As of 2008, 644 tmcft of underutilized water from Godavari River flowed into the Bay of Bengal. Based on the estimated water requirements in 2025, the Central Water Commission recommended that sizable surplus water was to be transferred from the Godavari River basin to the Krishna River basin The project intends to use the diverted water for not only to benefit a cultivated command area of 175,000 hectares (430,000 acres), but also to supply water to coastal city of Visakhapatnam for domestic and industrial purposes through a 208 kilometres (129 mi) long canal
Controversies :
The proposed project would displace 276 villages and 44,574 families spread across three districts of Andhra Pradesh . Tribals constitute 50% of such a displaced population Human Rights activists came out against the project because of these reasons. In addition, one activist pointed out that this interlinking of the rivers will harm the interests of the Telangana and Rayalaseema regions of the state. Environmental activist Medha Patkar said that the project not only will displace several thousands of families, it will also submerge several archeological sites, coal deposits, a wildlife sanctuary and several hectares of farm land.
Sixty-four years after the initial conception of the project, the Government of Andhra Pradesh secured the environmental clearance from the central agency in 2005. This clearance was obtained after the state government prepared a
4,500 crore forest management plan and rehabilitation and resettlement proposal covering 59,756 hectares that were being lost under the project. In addition, 40,000 was to be allotted for each dwelling to be constructed for the displaced as against 25,000 provided by other states. Despite this clearance, the project faced political roadblocks. The Communist Party of India (M) and Telangana Rashtra Samithi were troubled with the issue of submerging agricultural lands and the detriment to Telangana, respectively.Meanwhile, work on the project began in April 2006 and was expected to be completed by February 2007. After 30% work of excavation work on the canals and 15% of the spillway works had been completed, the work was halted in May 2006 to seek clearance from the Ministry of Forests and Environment.
The neighboring state of Orissa also expressed its concern on the submerging of its land and decided to study this together with the officials from Andhra Pradesh. In response, Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh Y. S. Rajasekhara Reddy clarified that neither Orissa nor Chattisgarh would be affected by the construction.The problem continued until 2010, when Chief Minister of Orissa Naveen Patnaik remained steadfast in his demand for compensation and rehabilitation of tribals of his state who would be displaced due to the submerging of their land.
Regards
M Chandra Prakash
mchandraprakash@rocketmail.com
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