Polavaram irrigation project: Hopes drowned in uncertainty

For the past 10 years, Nagaraju, a 35-year-old tribal man from Mulakapalli village in Andhra Pradesh’s Godavari district, had been clinging to a fragile thread of hope. Displaced by the Polavaram irrigation project, which cuts through the Godavari region in the State, his four-member family has beenanxiously awaiting the promised rehabilitation and resettlement (R&R) package since 2014. The Centre-funded project spans A.P., Odisha, Telangana, and Chhattisgarh, with A.P. bearing 90% of its impact. As a new leadership took over the reins in the State earlier this month, Nagaraju expected to finally see the end of his struggle.

However, those hopes were dashed when Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu visited the project site on June 17. Naidu’s remark that the project completion could take at least four more years and was hinged on numerous uncertainties hit Nagaraju like a thunderbolt.

Nagaraju, who works as a construction worker at a rehabilitation colony in Taduvai in the district, is not alone in his disappointment. Thousands of others like him had anticipated that the new government would expedite the project, ensuring not just its completion but also the timely delivery of their long-awaited R&R packages. Some tribal families were provided land, but many others were left without the compensation they were promised.

“All these years, even after displacement, we were hoping the State government would take suitable action. The successive governments did not implement the promised R&R packages. Many displaced families are yet to receive full compensation,” adds Nagaraju.

The Polavaram project, initially estimated to displace 44,570 families from 371 villages across eight revenue blocks in 2014, saw the number of affected families surge to 98,818 by 2014-15, with 80% being tribals. They were promised rehabilitation in alternative locations like Buttaigudem, Jeelugumilli, Darbhagudem, and Yetapaka in Godavari district. Now, a decade on, the number of families facing displacement is over 1.06 lakh.

In Polavaram mandal alone, 23 villages were vacated, with villagers shifted to R&R colonies. For those displaced from Velerupadu and Kukkunur mandals, rehabilitation colonies were constructed near Jangareddygudem town, which falls under the Chinthalapudi Assembly segment of Eluru Lok Sabha constituency. Over 22,000 families were to be relocated to Challavarigudem (Taduvai colony), but the government failed to complete construction of all the houses. What’s more, housing for Rudramkota villagers, which will be submerged once the project is completed, has not yet begun.

Of these 371 habitations, 123 comprising 21,000 families, inhabited mainly by Konda Reddi and Koya tribes, are being rehabilitated in the first phase of the R&R package scheduled to be completed by August.

High and dry

Those who have been displaced allege that the Telugu Desam Party (TDP), TDP governments in residuary Andhra Pradesh, and governments of combined A.P. did not focus on the R&R. The package was estimated at ₹746.6 crore at the 2005-06 price level and touched ₹1,081.25 crore with the first revised estimate at 2010-11 price level. It increased to ₹7,915.62 crore at 2013-14 price level. Then it was revised at ₹20,091.09 crore at 2017-18 price level as per the Technical Advisory Committee. Later, the cost estimate was pegged at ₹7,278.85 at 2013-14 price level, and ₹17,972 crore at 2017-18 price level as per the Revised Cost Committee, sources say.

The cost escalation is primarily due to sluggish progress in the project, which was conceived as early as 1940s in erstwhile Madras Presidency. Each displaced family was promised monetary compensation ranging from ₹6.8 lakh to ₹10 lakh, depending on their location, along with land and housing facilities. Land-for-land compensation is reserved for tribal families, while both tribals and non-tribals are to be provided housing.

The government also pledged to compensate for loss of houses in the native villages for affected families. Non-tribal families, however, would not receive agricultural land but compensated monetarily based on government valuation.

The first foundation stone was laid in 1980 by then chief minister of combined Andhra Pradesh T. Anjaiah. The project did not take off as it involved massive rehabilitation, environmental issues and submergence of some areas in neighbouring Chhattisgarh (then part of Madhya Pradesh) and Odisha.

In 2004-05, the project hit headlines again during the tenure of Chief Minister Y.S. Rajasekhar Reddy. The project was pushed to the back burner with the CM’s death in a chopper crash in September 2009. Three years later, the Kiran Kumar Reddy government called for tenders for the project head works. In 2014, during the bifurcation of combined A.P., Polavaram was a national project, and seven mandals from Telangana were merged with residuary A.P. The project gained momentum from 2014. The delay in project execution for over two decades (if 2004 were to be considered) has escalated the cost of project as well as that of the R&R.

Wall damage

Neither officials nor the political leadership have been able to allay the apprehensions of the displaced families. Officials are struggling to find a solution to the damage caused to the project during the 2019-2020 floods. The diaphragm wall, or D-wall, suffered about 35% damage in four locations. Built at ₹442 crore, the wall is a concrete structure extending 40 to 120 metres below the riverbed to ensure stability, and withstand water pressure across the dam.

With that wall now damaged, safety of the dam has emerged as a big concern. The dam break analysis conducted by the National Institute of Hydrology in Roorkee indicates that if a peak flood of 50 lakh cusecs occurs and the dam breaks, even the city of Rajamahendravaram, about 40 km from the Polavaram project and with a population of over 3.41 lakh as per the 2001 census, would be affected. In a nutshell, this implies that towns and villages en route would also be inundated or submerged in floodwaters.

The maximum flood discharge in the Godavari river in the past 100 years was 33 lakh cusecs, and the Polavaram dam was designed to handle 36 lakh cusecs. The Central Water Commission (CWC) determined the possible maximum flood to be 50 lakh cusecs, prompting a redesign of the dam’s spillway.

A senior engineer with many years of experience on the Polavaram project dismisses fears that the dam would be washed away in a peak flood event, possibly wiping out Rajamahendravaram. He says the city might be temporarily inundated, but the floodwaters would recede quickly.

The government has two options: repair the existing D-wall or construct a parallel one. The first option is estimated to cost ₹447 crore, while the second one would cost ₹990 crore. Officials are inclined to choose the latter, though the government is still assessing the situation.

Sources say constructing a new D-wall might be overly ambitious. The upper and lower cofferdams (temporary dams built to keep water out of specific areas) have already exceeded their intended lifespan. Typically, cofferdams are effective for three to five years, but these have been in place for over eight years, raising questions about their dependability. “We may not need to construct new cofferdams if we can control seepages from the existing structures. Various solutions are being explored in this direction. We need to see how best we can control the seepages,” says a former official.

The original design called for two D-walls, but only one was built. While this is not necessarily the cause of the damage, as the reasons are yet to be ascertained, a new diaphragm wall will have to come up to move towards project completion, sources say.

Construction on the main Polavaram dam, which will have a storage capacity of 194 tmcft (thousand million cubic feet), has not yet started. Work can only begin once the diaphragm wall is in place.

Where does the buck stop?

The political leadership is currently engaged in a blame game instead of going back to the drawing board for a solution. Naidu has put the blame on former chief minister Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy for the delays and damage. Arguing that reverse tendering and changes in contractors delayed the construction, Naidu has stated that if the original executing agencies had continued, the project would have been completed by 2020.

When in power, Jagan had claimed that the government saved about ₹780 crore on the Polavaram project through re-tendering process. However, a change in contractor coupled with COVID-19 pandemic, caused delays for over a year. However, one question remains unanswered: why did the Centre allow reverse tendering and contractor changes when Polavaram was declared a national project and the State government was merely an executing agency? The CWC and Union Ministry of Jal Shakti had advised the State against changing the contractor.

Previously, in united A.P., the Congress government led by Kiran Kumar Reddy had awarded the project to a consortium headed by Transstroy (India) Ltd. for ₹4,717 crore. However, it failed to take up the works at the required pace, prompting the Naidu government to drop Transstroy from the Polavaram contract in January 2018. The concrete and spillway works were then entrusted to Navayuga Engineering Company Ltd. at the previously agreed project cost. Later, the YSRCP government, led by Jagan Mohan Reddy, reassigned the contract.

This political slugfest is, however, of no interest to the affected people. With over one lakh families displaced across two phases, successive governments have neglected the R&R efforts. From 2014 to 2021, only about 48% of the sanctioned amount was spent on R&R. In contrast, 97.75% was spent on head works, 40.56% on left and right canals, and 28.48% on land acquisition. This disparity in spending is one of the reasons many PDFs have not changed their residential address on voter ID cards despite relocating to R&R colonies.

“Most houses constructed for non-tribals were not occupied, and only about 300 families opted to shift to Taduvai colony. Besides, over 1,300 people have retained their old address on voter IDs. We are scared to change the address as we will lose nativity in Polavaram,” says Mastan, a senior citizen who relocated from Velerupadu and runs a small grocery shop in Taduvai.

The displaced families say they unwillingly accepted relocation, hoping the government would fulfill its promises. However, not only has the R&R package been inadequate, there are no proper roads or basic infrastructural facilities either. Only one RTC bus runs through the colony, once in the morning and once in the evening.

For displaced people from Velerupadu and Kukkunur mandal, R&R colonies were constructed near Jangareddygudem town. The long-pending demand for a 100-bed hospital and a degree college has remained unfulfilled. Residents rue the lack of a proper cremation centre/ burial ground, forcing them to take bodies to Kovvur, Vegeswarapuram, or Rajamahendravaram to perform last rites. Promised schools and hospitals remain only on paper, laments Narayana, 40, who works as a construction worker in the town.

During 2009-2010, when the Polavaram project was in a limbo, Odisha and Chhattisgarh moved the Supreme Court to oppose it. They argued that the project’s redesign, increasing discharge capacity from 35 lakh cusecs to 50 lakh cusecs, would submerge 4,932 hectares in Odisha and 2,015 hectares in Chhattisgarh. Several other cases opposing the project were also filed, with 15 court cases currently pending.

Officials say the Godavari Water Tribunal proposed three solutions — constructing protective embankments within A.P.’s jurisdiction to prevent flooding in Odisha or Chhattisgarh, compensating project victims, and having respective states construct embankments using funds released by the A.P. government. However, these governments did not agree to the tribunal’s proposals and instead advocated halting the project altogether. An official opines political dialogue is necessary to resolve the deadlock.

T. Lakshmi Narayana, convener of Andhra Pradesh Samagrabhivriddhi Adhyayana Vedika, attributes the inordinate delay in completing the project to lack of political will. “The government must take remedial measures and fulfil the promised R&R packages. Employment opportunities must be provided to displaced families,” he says.

Official sources say total expenditure incurred on the project up to May 31, 2024, was ₹21,492.45 crore. Of this, ₹16,761.74 crore was spent after it was declared a ‘national project’. Total funds released to the State government through Polavaram Project Authority so far amount to ₹15,146 crore. The Centre still needs to reimburse ₹1,615.47 crore, which was spent by the A.P. government after getting national project status.