In a State plagued both by droughts and floods, the Andhra Pradesh Government has embarked upon a massive river-linking exercise with the construction of Rs40,000-crore irrigation dam project at Polavaram to permanently tide over the crises.
The project seeks to utilize the excess water in river Godavari for supply to the water-deficient Krishna Delta and the chronic drought-prone Rayalseema areas. This region will not only benefit from the water for irrigating crops but will be their mainstay during droughts.
laying the foundation of the Spillway at the Polavaram project site in West Godavari district, Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu said, “This is a national project fully funded by the Centre. While the state is to benefit largely from the project, it holds significance for the country in eradicating drought, ensuring food security by increased production of crops, and generating employment by creation of a natural wealth.”
Andhra Pradesh, which was once called the rice bowl of the country, has much to worry on the water front and hence the completion of the project, with the first phase slotted for completion by December 2018, holds the key to the State’s drought management plan.
A report prepared by the Andhra Pradesh Disaster Management Department names the State to be the third-most drought prone state after Rajasthan and Karnataka. It has six chronic drought-prone districts which include Anantapur, Kadappa, Chittoor, Kurnool and Prakasam. The first four districts constitute the Rayalseema region.
The annual rainfall received by these districts from South West Monsoon was as low as 172 mm (Anantapur) and from North East monsoons as low as 91 mm (Kurnool). The State on an average receives 940 mm rainfall. These districts also have significant land under cultivation and drought dries up not just the crops but also the means of livelihood for the people in this region. The Polavaram project plans to cover the irrigation needs of 33 lakh hectares of land in the State.
“We have to go for linking of rivers if the problem of drought is to end,” Naidu said after the inauguration event. “The project of this magnitude may be the last of its kind but this problem will arise in future where during some years, there will be excess rainfall followed by a dry spell. Water needs to be preserved and used for such contingencies,” he added.
In March last year, the state undertook a similar exercise by linking Godavari and Krishna rivers by constructing a Pumping Station at Pattiseema to remove nearly 80 tmc of water from river Godavari via canals stretching over 180 kilometres into the Krishna river. This is benefitting the Rayalseema region indirectly as the water from Sreesailam Dam that otherwise went to Krishna Delta is now available to Rayalseema areas. Polavaram project further seeks to benefit this region by making more water available to Krishna Delta areas.