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Polavaram irrigation project stuck in a limbo, thanks to Jagan’s inefficiency, says A.P. Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu
The former Chief Minister’s decisions such as abruptly changing the contractor against advice caused severe damage to the project that is the lifeline of Andhra Pradesh, says Chandrababu Naidu; Andhra Pradesh suffered more losses during the YSRCP tenure than due to bifurcation in 2014, he avers
The ignorance and inefficiency of the former Chief Minister, Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy, in taking policy decisions and in abruptly changing the contractor of the multi-purpose Polavaram Irrigation Project (PIP) had resulted in causing severe damage to the project, considered Andhra Pradesh’s lifeline, Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu asserted while releasing a White Paper on it, at the Secretariat at Velagapudi on June 28 (Friday).
Stating that Andhra Pradesh had suffered more losses during the YSRCP tenure than due to bifurcation of the combined State in 2014, Mr. Naidu said, “It will cost more than ₹12,157 crore to complete the remaining works under Phase-I of the project.”
Changing the project’s contractor at a critical stage, ignoring the advice of the Polavaram Project Authority (PPA) and the Ministry of Jal Sakhti, delay in mobilisation of the required men and machinery by the new agency, and not realising the importance of plugging the two gaps in the cofferdam upstream resulted in severe damage to the diaphragm wall, Mr. Naidu explained.
The previous government had also failed to complete the Relief & Rehabilitation (R&R) programme at certain villages likely to be affected due to completion of the upstream cofferdam, he said. There was little progress in works such as approach channel to spillway and approach channel to both the right and left head regulators, he added.
These resulted in causing severe damage to the diaphragm wall of the main dam and cut-off wall of the downstream cofferdam and partially completed downstream cofferdam, Mr. Naidu said.
“These led to deep scours in the foundation area of the main dam. Measures to be taken to overcome these bottlenecks also have not been finalised. As a result, it is now not possible to commence any work pertaining to the main dams (Gap-I and Gap-II),” the Chief Minister said.
Pre-closure of contracts
He further said that the agency executing the main dam of the project had stopped works in June 2019 itself on the directions of Mr. Jagan Mohan Reddy.
The agency was informed that their contracts would be pre-closed as per the recommendations of the Expert Committee constituted by the government. Later, notices had been served on the executing agencies of the main dam, M/s Navayuga Engineering Company Limited (NECL) and M/s Bekem Infra Projects Private Limited (BEKEM), for pre-closure and termination of their contracts, the Chief Minister said.
Mr. Naidu said the PPA, in its meeting in August 2019, had observed that “there is neither enough ground nor any necessity for pre-closure of present contracts and retendering the works, particularly in view of satisfactory progress of work by the existing contractors. The legal and contractual issues arising out of foreclosure of contract in 2009 for construction of the Polavaram head works are still unsettled. Similar issues are likely to crop up this time also.”
Reverse tenders
As a consequence, the expenditure on the project had increased, as opposed to the previous government’s claim of saving ₹628 crore through floating reverse tenders, Mr. Naidu said.
“An agreement was concluded with the new agency, M/s Megha Engineering & Infrastructures Ltd (MEIL), for ₹1,548.12 crore after reverse tendering in November 2019. Later, during execution of works, two fresh tenders were floated under the pretext of change of specifications of certain items. These fresh tenders were called with current rates (SSR). Under these two new contracts, works worth ₹2,268.68 crore were entrusted to M/s MEIL. It is very clear that the claim of saving ₹628.47 crore by terminating the earlier contracts and entrusting the same to a new agency by reverse tendering is not true. In fact, it resulted in extra financial burden of ₹2,268.68 crore on the State exchequer,” Mr. Naidu explained.
He further said that several technical challenges were encountered in respect of various components of the project due to poor project planning, including in the construction of the diaphragm wall (D-Wall), Earth Cum Rock Fill (ECRF) Dam in Gap I & Gap II, excess seepages, and failure of the guide bund.
Hydro project
The first three units of the Polavaram Hydro Electric Project were scheduled to be completed by November 2021. The other six units were to be commissioned within six months thereafter. Non-commissioning of these units resulted in non-availability of affordable power to the State and, hence, resulted in a loss of more than ₹3,000 crore up to May 2024, Mr. Naidu said.
International firms roped in
The Chief Minister said that on the advice of the international expert design consultant, M/s AFRY India Pvt. Ltd., Noida (Headquarters: Sweden), seepage assessment from the cofferdams to finding out vulnerable points would be undertaken and timelines fixed for each activity.
The services of international experts, two each from Canada and United States of America (USA), are being engaged by the PPA on the advice of the Central Water Commission (CWC) for scrutiny of the proposals received from the State Water Resources Department.
“The methodology for executing Vibro stone columns in clayey foundations is to be finalised and final designs for the ECRF Dams (Gap I & Gap II) are to be approved in coordination with M/s AFRY and the international consultants engaged by the PPA,” he said.
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