POLAVARAM PROJECT

A case study on "POLAVARAM PROJECT". A never ending project...

1. A CASE STUDY ON POLAVARAM PROJECT BY MATHI SRIRADH B.TECH CSE-2 ND SEM - Life line of the Andhra Pradesh residents

2. INTRODUCTION: The multi purpose irrigation project, the Polavaram project is a accorded national project status by the union government. The dam is across the river Godavari and is located at West-Godavari and East-Godavari districts. The reservoir spread is across parts of Telangana, Odisha and Chhattisgarh.

3. HISTORY: 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$230 million) for the project.

4. Representative view of the project location

5. WHY POLAVARAM????..... The central idea behind the project was to transfer water from Godavari to the water deficit Krishna basin. Whenever the river Godavari gets flooded, there is a need to divert the water in excess, which might submerge the neighboring villages around Godavari, so that water can be diverted into Krishna river. 70% of Godavari water that is 3000TMC is unnecessarily flowed into Bay of Bengal.

6. KEY ASPECTS OF THE PROJECT: DAMS AND SPILLWAYS: Type of Dam Concrete spill way (754 m), Non over flow masonry dam (560 m) & Earth dam (1600 m) Impounds Godavari River Height 39.28 m (129 ft.) up to top of earth dam above the lowest river bed. Length 2,914 m (9,560 ft.) Spillway type Ogee section Spillway capacity 5,000,000  cumecs  at 140 ft  msl

7. ABOUT THE RESERVOIR: Total capacity 194  TMC ft. at FRL 150 ft. MSL Active capacity 175 TMC ft. (at 25.4 m MSL crest level of spillway) Inactive capacity 19 TMC ft. (below 25.4 m MSL) Catchment area 307,800 km 2 (118,800 Sq. mi) Surface area 600 km 2  (230 Sq. mi) Maximum water depth 32.08 m at FRL 150 ft. MSL

8. POWER STATION: The power station is operated by APGENCO. The turbines used are 12 × 80 MW  Francis-type (left bank side ). The installed capacity is 960 MW (under construction ).

9. BENEFITS: Polavaram will be the biggest dam dedicated to nation after Sardar Sarovar dam on Narmada river in Gujarat. It’s a big boon to the Rayalaseema region.

10. CONTROVERSIES: The proposed project would displace 276 villages and 44,574 families spread across three districts of Andhra Pradesh . T he 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 . A lot of political leaders were involved in the corruption of the sanctioned budget of the project .

11. MISCELLANEOUS FACTS: Revised estimated budget: 50,000 Crores, out of which 32,000 will be spent for land acquisition, relief and rehabilitation. A sum of 7,000 Crores has been spent so far for the project. A huge mountain had to be cleared off as a part of spillway channel works. About 2.7 lakh cubic meters of concrete work has been completed so far and it is estimated that about 32 lakh Cu.m of concrete is required for the whole project.

12. THANK Q