TS government protests delay over survey on submergence under Polavaram

Hyderabad: Telangana State Government has registered strong protests on the delay over the conduct of survey on submergence in the Polavaram project. An official delegation led by State chief engineer Nagendra Rao attended the CWC (Central Water Commission) meeting in New Delhi on Monday and made arguments on the Polavaram project and the submergence of places in the State.

The delegation brought to the notice of the Commission that CWC already instructed AP Government and Polavaram Project Authority to take up the survey on submergence and also fix time to complete the study. The TS officials found fault with the Andhra Pradesh Government for not abiding by the Central commission instructions. The Telangana government was demanding to find out the total submergence area when the water reserved at FRL (Full Reservoir Level) in the project. The government was also demanding to take safety measures at heavy water plant in Manuguru and Lord Rama temple in Bhadrachalam before the completion of the project.

The officials demanded that CWC Chairman Kushwinder Vohra not to permit the AP to preserve water in Polavaram and its reservoirs until the demands raised by the affected states including Chattisgarh and Odisha governments are met.

"Telangana mainly insisted on the issue of joint survey in the meeting. In the second technical meeting held on January 25, CWC accepted Telangana's demand for a joint survey on Polavaram backwaters effect. It has also recorded those decisions in the minutes. It has just issued instructions to the PPA to conduct a joint survey in coordination with the AP", officials said the AP government was not ready to conduct the survey despite the commission instructed several times earlier. The TS government also demanded the commission to hold a joint meeting on April 10 with AP and Telangana and take necessary measures.