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So close, yet so far: Palemvagu Project
There seems to be no end to the hiccups in the construction of Palemvagu Medium Irrigation Project that got underway dozen years ago. The twice washed away project has always appeared so close yet remained an elusive dream for the local farmers.
Bhupalpally: There seems to be no end to the hiccups in the construction of Palemvagu Medium Irrigation Project that got underway dozen years ago. The twice washed away project has always appeared so close yet remained an elusive dream for the local farmers.
Albeit the government is asserting that the project would be commissioned by the end of May, it remains to be seen whether the erection of radial gates and the construction of distributary channels is completed or not.
The government which mooted the Palemvagu project in 1998 got the clearance from Forest Department in 2005 and the then YS Rajasekhara Reddy government took up the project construction near Mallapuram under the Jalayagnam programme at an estimated cost of Rs 70.99 crore under the Engineering Procurement Contract (EPC) mode.
The project with a 1.27 tmcft capacity reservoir is expected to irrigate 10,132 acres. Later, the government revised the estimate for an amount of Rs 102.30 crore. While the works were in progress, the project washed away due to heavy floods in 2008 and 2009. It’s said that defects in the project design was the reason behind the loss.
The redesigning and reconstruction of the project escalated the costs to Rs 102.30 crore. Later, the TRS government rectified the design error and decided to carry project works cancelling the EPC method. It’s learnt that though the government had paid Rs 1.23 crore to the forest department in lieu of forest land long back, there was an inordinate delay in getting the clearance for the construction of distributary channels.
Meanwhile, Minister for Irrigation T Harish Rao, who inspected the project site on Monday, said: “Palemvagu project that should have commissioned a decade ago had the then Congress government didn’t have gone for the EPC method to complete the project. This not only applied the brakes on project progress but also escalated the costs to nearly Rs 221 crore from Rs 70 crore. Despite this, the project will be completed by May end.”
He also warned the contracting agency to cancel the work if it fails to complete the work by May end. “As of now, the construction of distributary channels is pending due to non-clearance of the forest wing. Minister T Harish Rao spoke to the forest officials and there would be no problem henceforth. This apart, the erection of radial gates is also pending,” Irrigation DE N Venkateshwarlu told The Hans India.
