The Hindu : Andhra Pradesh News : Expert opposes changes in Polavaram dam

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Andhra Pradesh

Andhra Pradesh

Expert opposes changes in Polavaram dam

Staff Reporter

BHIMAVARAM: P.A. Ramakrishnam Raju, Professor in Civil Engineering, S.R.K.R. Engineering College, here has differed with the views of T. Hanumantha Rao, a retired Chief Engineer of the Irrigation department, in favour of certain changes in the designs of the Indira Sagar Project under construction on the Godavari near Polavaram. Recalling the suggestion of Mr. Rao in favour of changing the dam into a reservoir by reducing its height from the plus 150ft to the plus 135 fit, Prof. Raju, at a media conference on Saturday, said it would only help the Godavari delta turn into a ‘salt desert’ and deprive the tail-end areas of water for second crop.

The proposal made by Mr. Hanumantha Rao to maintain the dead storage at 119 tmc and utilising 75 tmc for irrigation by lift to the ayacut and 30 tmc for power generation from reservoir was also not feasible as the canals could not be fit for lifting water since they were designed to carry water by gravity, Prof. Ramakrishnam Raju explained.

Discounting the fears over the area around being prone to earthquakes on account of construction of the dam, he maintained that the project site, which happened to be a rift valley, would not at all pose any safety problem to the delta and surrounding areas.

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