As per the information furnished by the Government of Andhra Pradesh, some Telengana leaders have represented the case related with alternative design of Polavaram Project. The proposal submitted by T. Hanumanth Rao, former Engineer-in-Chief, Andhra Pradesh and UN Consultant was examined by the State Government and found not feasible both technically and economically.
A proposal from him for taking up a series of barrages on Godavari river was also received in the Ministry of Water Resources through Shri P Govardhan Reddy, Hon’ble Member of Parliament in December 2009. The series of barrages one below the other all along the river were termed as “Step Ladder Technology” by the author.
The proposal was examined by Central Water Commission (CWC) and the main observations of CWC were as under.
1. Barrages are diversion structures for providing limited storage capacity during the time when water is available in the river.
2. A barrage cannot fully meet water requirements during non-monsoon period for Rabi irrigation and other purposes like dependable power generation, diversion of water and supply of drinking water to a city etc.
3. The command area under existing lift schemes is getting irrigation in Kharif only. For providing irrigation supplies for Rabi and perennial crops as well, the State Government of Andhra Pradesh has taken up Polavaram project.
This information was given by the Union Water Resources Minister Harish Rawat in the Rajya Sabha on August 26 in reply to a written question.
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