Move to lay pipeline from Godavari gathers steam

Urgent steps needed as city battles water crisis

Water pipeline at a cost of ₹1,600 crore proposed from the Yeleru reservoir to Viskahapatnam to prevent evaporation and pilferage losses.

The proposal to lay a pipeline from the Godavari to the city is now back on the table.

The idea of laying a pipeline was first mooted in 2010 when a water crisis had gripped the city. It was then proposed to lay the pipeline at a cost of ₹1,600 crore from the Yeleru reservoir in order to prevent evaporation and pilferage losses.

The district administration again pursued the proposal in 2016 and a Detailed Project Report (DPR) was also drawn up, according to sources.

With work commencing on the Polavaram project, the focus then shifted to utilisation of the 24 tmcft of water from the project that would reach the district through the Left Main Canal, and creation of storage reservoirs of 10 tmcft, while drawing 14 tmcft during the Godavari flood season.

Of the 10 tmcft, storage tanks are first proposed to be taken for 5 tmcft with at Gopalapuram, Kondakarla Ava, Krishnampalem, Penjeru and Kanithi Balancing Reservoir II. DPRs have been prepared and are being perused for four of them, it was learnt.

The Visakhapatnam Steel Plant had gone ahead with its plan and constructed KBR-II storage tank at a cost of ₹465 crore.

Steep costs

However, the cost of storage reservoirs is estimated to be around ₹1,600 crore for 5 tmcft and around ₹4,000 crore for 10 tmcft. Converting tanks into storage reservoirs has its own set of problems as it would involve land acquisition and addressing issues related to irrigation, according to sources.

However, no decision has been taken yet as either storage reservoirs or pipelines would need large amounts of money, and a funding plan is also not in place. The pipeline proposal would again involve Yeleru reservoir. With the other reservoirs providing water to the city not being able to meet the demand, it is the Yeleru reservoir that is coming to the rescue of the city for most of the year. The 156-km-long open canal carries water from the reservoir to the city. Earlier, the carrying loss used to be 60%. But with maintenance measures, leakages and pilferage have been checked and the loss has been reduced to 40%, sources said.

Talks on

In this backdrop, MP M.V.V. Satyanarayana had taken the project issue to the notice of Chief Minister Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy. He met the CM’s Principal Adviser Ajeya Kallam and gave details of the project and how it could meet the industrial and domestic water needs of the city. It is learnt that Mr. Kallam spoke to Collector V. Vinay Chand on the issue and the latter would take up further consultations.