Chief Minister Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy has instructed the Water Resources Department (WRD) to get a Detailed Project Report (DPR) prepared by Water and Power Consultancy Services Limited (WAPCOS) for diverting about 23,000 cusecs (2 tmcft per day) of Godavari river water from the Polavaram dam to the Banakcherla head regulator on the Srisailam right main canal as part of the linking of the Godavari and Krishna rivers. It is estimated to cost ₹60,000 crore.
According to an official release, as part of the project, the government contemplates building a balancing reservoir with a storage capacity of 150 tmcft at Bollapalli in Guntur district by lifting water at chainage km 114.50 of Nagarjuna Sagar right canal.
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The interlinking project will stabilise Nagarjuna Sagar (NSP) right main canal ayacut (9.61 lakh acres), create irrigation potential for a new ayacut of about two lakh acres under NSP Phase-II in the Darsi and Kanigiri Assembly constituencies in Prakasam district, supplement Poola Subbaiah Velugonda project, KC Canal, and the Srisailam right bank canal, complex etc., and meet the drinking water requirements of Guntur and Prakasam districts.
The press release by WRD said upon studying the last 15 years’ daily gauge data of the Godavari river, it has been inferred by WAPCOS that the average number of flood days at 1,200 cubic metres per second flow (3.7 TMC) at Polavaram gauge station stood at 105, the total static lift from the Polavaram reservoir to the Banakacherla regulator was 230 m and the total power required is 2,100 MW. The length of the gravity canal is about 460 km.