Godavari water to be released up to April 15

Work on cofferdam will begin thereafter, says Polavaram project official

The Godavari water will be released into the irrigation canals in East and West Godavari districts from the Polavaram irrigation project site up to April 15 against the previous deadline of March 31.

In the meeting of the Irrigation Advisory Boards (IABs) of East and West Godavari districts held in November 2020, the Polavaram project authorities had announced that water would not be released from March 31 with a view to commencing the construction work of the cofferdam.

Work on the cofferdam – Cap-3 (300-metre-length) – is scheduled to commence in April and get completed by June-end.

This year, the farmers have also preferred short-duration crop varieties for the rabi 2021 season in the districts.

“We will continue to release Godavari water till April 15 against the previous deadline of March 31. However, it will be stopped before April 15, based on the directives from the Irrigation Department,” Narasimha Murthy, Polavaram Project Superintendent Engineer, told The Hindu on Tuesday.

“We have been receiving requests from the stakeholders to continue the release of water for some more days. Work on the cofferdam will begin only after stopping the release of water at the project site,” he said.

“We are preparing to manage the situation based on the schedule to be given by the Polavaram project authorities on the release of Godavari water from the project site,” East Godavari Collector D. Muralidhar Reddy said.