AP Banking On 50-Year Water Data For Polavaram-Banakacherla Approval
Andhra Pradesh wants to collect Godavari River water data from the CWC’s records, so that it can press for the clearance of the project.
VIJAYAWADA: Andhra Pradesh government is focussing on getting Godavari River water data for nearly 50 years to buttress its case for getting the Polavaram-Banakacherla project okayed by the Central Water Commission (CWC).
AP Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu and his Telangana counterpart A. Revanth Reddy met recently in the presence of union Jal Shakthi minister C.R. Patil in Delhi following stiff resistance from TG on usage of the Godavari flood water for the Polavaram-Banakacherla project. AP intends to use 200 TMC feet of water, claiming that nearly 3,000 TMC feet of flood water is going waste into the sea.
Andhra Pradesh wants to collect Godavari River water data from the CWC’s records, so that it can press for the clearance of the project.
Significantly, since the 1960s, CWC has been recording the Godavari water discharge on a daily basis manually at select places along the river course from upstream Maharashtra to the downstream point at Prakasam Barrage, from where the discharged water finally enters the sea. There is a gauge nearly two km downstream from Polavaram project’s spillway at the river bed that is at the mean sea level. The river bed is subject to change due to soil erosion, especially during the flood season. Even this data will be taken into consideration by the AP government to present its case.
The measurement of discharge is for 365 days from June 1 to May 31. Hourly readings are taken 24x7 during the flood season and three times in a day during non-flood season.
CWC authorities maintain that this manual data is more reliable and authentic. Though telemetry stations have come up in the last five to six years to assess the quantum of water discharge, the manual data is said to be more valid, as it has been recorded for so long.
Water Resources department superintending engineer for Polavaram-Banakacherla project B. Rambabu said, “We are in the process of getting the data of Godavari River water yield daily during the last 50 years from the CWC. Based on certain hydrological calculations, we will present to the CWC the quantum of flood water being discharged into the sea in Andhra Pradesh, the tail-end state. We will present this data within a month, underlining that we have a right to use the surplus flood water for the Polavaram-Banakacherla project.”
Moreover, as both AP and TG have agreed to form a committee of experts, which will also comprise senior officials of CWC, this committee will also look into the data of AP’s claims of surplus flood water going waste into the sea.
