Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu on Friday made suggestions to the Water and Power Consultancy Services (WAPCOS) team of experts on Godavari-Pennar River Linkage plan and asked them to get back to him in a week (December 22).
A team of WAPCOS experts made a presentation to the Chief Minister on the ₹80,000-crore project at the Secretariat here. The Chief Minister asked the experts to make the project more cost effective and segregate the parts that could be taken up immediately.
Suggesting the low-hanging fruit concept to the team, Mr. Naidu asked them to identify the components that would be bear fruit immediately to be taken up in the first phase. He said he would discuss the project when the Union Water Resources Minister Nitin Gadkari comes to the State on December 23.
The WAPCOS team, presenting the report on the project, said that 3,625 MW power would be required for the pumping 320 tmcft of Godavari water. Land to the tune of 32,000 acres, including 7,000 acres forest land, had to be acquired.
Major requirements
Two tunnels were needed between Polavaram and Prakasam Barrage and a reservoir was needed near Bollapalli. And 701 km of canals needed to be excavated from the Polavaram project to Sangam Barrage. On completion of the project, 1,500 tmcft could be stored in various reservoirs, the experts said.
Water Resources Minister Devineni Umamaheswara Rao, Secretary Shashi Bhushan Kumar, CM’s personal secretary Sai Prasad and Engineer-in-Chief M Venkateswara Rao were present at the presentation made by WAPCOS.
Another barrage
The Chief Minister said another barrage was being planned on Krishna River at an estimated cost of ₹3,278.60 crore, 60 km downstream the Pulichintala reservoir and 23 km upstream of Prakasam Barrage. It would take three years to complete the project, Mr. Naidu explained.
