In tandem with its efforts to ready the storage reservoirs by the time the works undertaken at Polavaram Left Main Canal are completed, the Greater Visakhapatnam Municipal Corporation (GVMC) is augmenting the capacity of Meghadrigedda reservoir.
The reservoir has a designed capacity of 1.1 tmcft, but its full potential is yet to be realised owing to to silting and other problems. In addition to the 33 MGD pipeline, another old pipeline of 16 MGD has been restored at a cost of ₹1 crore to increase the storage at the reservoir.
Using the potential of the Meghadrigedda reservoir as a summer storage water body has always come to the rescue, particularly when the city without any other major reservoir close by faces water scarcity.
Roadcrossing works
The Polavaram Left Main Canal, which envisages catering to the growing domestic and industrial water needs of the city, is scheduled for completion in June next year. However, of the nine road-crossing works that are part of the execution, only three have been undertaken so far, it is learnt. Besides, the aqueducts on Varaha, Tandava and Pumpa rivers remain to be done.
“DPRs are being prepared for creation of storage facility to use the Polavaram Left Main Canal water. Once these are ready, various means of financing the plans will be explored,” Municipal Commissioner M. Hari Narayanan told The Hindu .
Storage reservoirs
Simultaneously, the GVMC is also putting in efforts to improve the storage capacity of Meghadrigedda reservoir by de-silting and widening the catchment area, he said.
The additional 16 MGD pipeline will also contribute to the summer storage substantially. As of now, storage reservoirs with a capacity of 5 tmcft are being planned to use the water available from the Polavaram Left Main Canal.
They are Gopalapuram Ava near Payakaraopeta mandal (1 tmcft), Penjeruvu near Elamanchili (0.5 tmcft), APIIC Krishnapuram tank (1 tmcft), Kondakarla Ava (2 tmcft) and the Steel Plant’s second storage facility (0.5 tmcft being executed by the Visakhapatnam Steel Plant).
Of them, the GVMC and Visakhapatnam Industrial Water Supply Company (VIWSCO) need to prepare the DPR for the 3.5 tmcft. It has been estimated that around ₹1,500 crore is needed to create the storage reservoirs.
