CM to release Godavari water to north Andhra on Wednesday

Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu is scheduled to release Godavari River water to the North Andhra region on Wednesday through the Polavaram Project Left Main Canal, constructed at a cost of around Rs 4,000 crore.

The CM will welcome Godavari water by offering a traditional ‘Jala Harathi’ at Payakaraopeta in Anakapalli district on Wednesday, an official release issued on Tuesday said. “The CM will switch on the regulator constructed across the canal and release Godavari water towards North Andhra,” it said.

The Godavari water will undertake a journey to reach the people of North Andhra, passing through the Pampa, Tandava, Varaha and Sarada rivers, navigating the Yeleru canal and passing through complex structures carved across the Eastern Ghats. Through Polavaram Project’s Left Main Canal, the water will initially benefit 2.87 lakh acres across four districts and meet the drinking water needs of 5.23 lakh people.

The southern state has spent Rs 4,192 crore in constructing the Left Main Canal until now, said the press release. To carry the river across natural barriers, the Water Resources Department has constructed a series of syphons and aqueducts at different river crossings, said the press release.

“In some locations, the canal has been built above the natural river flow, while in others it passes below it. A syphon has been constructed to carry Godavari water below the bed level of the Yeleru river,” it said.

At the Pampa River, engineers built an aqueduct above the river, creating a safe passage for the Godavari waters.

The foundation for the Pampa aqueduct was laid using 312 piles sunk up to 30 metres deep and across the Tandava River, a 447-metre-long aqueduct with six vents has been constructed to handle a water flow capacity of 10,634 cusecs (cubic feet per second).

In Anakapalli district alone, around 1.5 lakh acres will benefit with the Godavari waters released through the Left Main Canal.

The Water Resources Department has planned to use the water released from the Payakaraopeta aqueduct to fill the Yeleru canal and 110 tanks in the district, helping strengthen irrigation and drinking water availability.

The project will help stabilise irrigation across 1.48 lakh acres under the Pushkara ayacut, 80,000 acres under Yeleru, 12,000 acres under Pampa, 46,620 acres under Tandava, Varaha and Mamidi Gedda ayacuts.

A total of 23.44 TMC (Thousand Million Cubic) feet of Godavari water is being planned for irrigation, drinking water and industrial requirements in Visakhapatnam and Anakapalli districts, said the press release.

The southern state has constructed the 213-km-long Polavaram Left Main Canal not merely as a standalone irrigation channel, but as a crucial link in a larger water network for North Andhra.

The canal is planned to be linked with the North Andhra Sujala Sravanthi project, enabling Godavari water to reach the upper regions of Anakapalli, Visakhapatnam, Vizianagaram, Parvathipuram Manyam and Srikakulam districts.

The state government aims to take Godavari waters to Visakhapatnam next year and subsequently integrate the system with North Andhra Sujala Sravanthi.

With this broader network, the government aims to eventually stabilise irrigation across nearly eight lakh acres in North Andhra while improving drinking water availability for people across the region.

“For the farmers of North Andhra, every drop of the Godavari that travels through these canals, aqueducts and syphons represents the possibility of a greener field,” said the press release.

For families, it means greater security in access to drinking water, it added.