A case study on "POLAVARAM PROJECT". A never ending project...

1. A CASE STUDY ON
POLAVARAM PROJECT
BY
MATHI SRIRADH
B.TECH CSE-2ND SEM
- Life line of the Andhra Pradesh residents

2. INTRODUCTION:
 The multi purpose irrigation project, the Polavaram
project is a accorded national project status by the union
government.
 The dam is across the river Godavari and is located at
West-Godavari and East-Godavari districts.
 The reservoir spread is across parts of Telangana,
Odisha and Chhattisgarh.

3. HISTORY:
 In 1980, then Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh T.
Anjaiah laid the foundation stone for the project.
 However the project stayed idle until 2004 when the Y.
S. Rajasekhara Reddy-led government came to power.
 In 2004, the Government of Andhra Pradesh sanctioned
1,320 crore (US$230 million) for the project.

4. Representative view
of the project location

5. WHY POLAVARAM????.....
 The central idea behind the project was to transfer water
from Godavari to the water deficit Krishna basin.
 Whenever the river Godavari gets flooded, there is a
need to divert the water in excess, which might
submerge the neighboring villages around Godavari, so
that water can be diverted into Krishna river.
 70% of Godavari water that is 3000TMC is
unnecessarily flowed into Bay of Bengal.

6. KEY ASPECTS OF THE PROJECT:
 DAMS AND SPILLWAYS:
Type of Dam Concrete spill way (754 m), Non over
flow masonry dam (560 m) & Earth
dam (1600 m)
Impounds Godavari River
Height 39.28 m (129 ft.) up to top of earth dam
above the lowest river bed.
Length 2,914 m (9,560 ft.)
Spillway type Ogee section
Spillway capacity 5,000,000 cumecs at 140 ft msl

7. ABOUT THE RESERVOIR:
Total capacity 194 TMC ft. at FRL 150 ft. MSL
Active capacity 175 TMC ft. (at 25.4 m MSL crest level of
spillway)
Inactive capacity 19 TMC ft. (below 25.4 m MSL)
Catchment area 307,800 km2(118,800 Sq. mi)
Surface area 600 km2 (230 Sq. mi)
Maximum water depth 32.08 m at FRL 150 ft. MSL

8. POWER STATION:
 The power station is operated by APGENCO.
 The turbines used are 12 × 80 MW Francis-
type (left bank side).
 The installed capacity is 960 MW (under
construction).

9. BENEFITS:
 Polavaram will be the biggest dam dedicated to nation after
Sardar Sarovar dam on Narmada river in Gujarat. It’s a big boon
to the Rayalaseema region.
1
Polavaram
reservoir
½ of Nagarjuna
Sagar.
¾ of Bhakra Dam.
1.5 times of Tehri
Dam.

10. CONTROVERSIES:
 The proposed project would displace 276 villages and
44,574 families spread across three districts of Andhra
Pradesh.
 The project not only will displace several thousands of
families, it will also submerge several archeological
sites, coal deposits, a wildlife sanctuary and several
hectares of farm land.
 A lot of political leaders were involved in the corruption
of the sanctioned budget of the project.

11. MISCELLANEOUS FACTS:
 Revised estimated budget: 50,000 Crores, out of which 32,000
will be spent for land acquisition, relief and rehabilitation.
 A sum of 7,000 Crores has been spent so far for the project.
 A huge mountain had to be cleared off as a part of spillway
channel works.
 About 2.7 lakh cubic meters of concrete work has been completed
so far and it is estimated that about 32 lakh Cu.m of concrete is
required for the whole project.