HYDERABAD: Telangana has yet again urged the Central Water Commission (CWC) to order a study on the impact of backwaters of the Polavaram project being constructed by Andhra Pradesh on the temple town of Bhadrachalam. The demand was made at a meeting of the CWC chairman R.K. Gupta with irrigation department officials from Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Odisha.
Telangana said a fresh study was required as the one based on mathematical model in the past did not match the actual flood situation as was experienced in July this year. It said this year’s July floods affected 28,000 inhabitants, 11,000 families and impacted 103 villages.
Telangana has also said that there was a need to study the impact of standing water when the Polavaram dam reaches its full reservoir level. The drainage congestion and submergence also affects some 50,000 acres of cropland in seven mandals in about 150 villages, Telangana said. It also reminded the CWC that afflux formation upstream of Polavaram due to the backwater effect was previously acknowledged by the commission.
Andhra Pradesh, according to a news release from the Telangana irrigation department, has agreed to a joint survey of all major streams on either side of Godavari river.
Meanwhile, Odisha and Chhattisgarh asked the CWC to take into consideration a probable maximum flood of 58 lakh cusecs, which a study by IIT-Roorkee had said might occur, before any permissions are finalised for the project. Odisha officials stated that it must consider the 58 lakh cusecs mark for both the design of the spillway and backwater effects, and added that the previous backwater study by CWC and Andhra Pradesh had its limitations that also included operation protocol, hydrology, and statutory clearances for its ‘convenience hypothesis’. Until these things are settled and finalized, the acceptance for public hearing and joint survey is not acceptable to Odisha, officials from the state told the commission.
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