The international expert team and the Central Water Commission have given the green signal for key constructions in the Polavaram project. All doubts regarding the completion of the diaphragm wall and earth cum rock fill (ECRF) dam works have been removed.
The Water Commission has directed the German contracting company Bauer to start the diaphragm wall work in January 2025 and complete it by November of that year. The international experts and Water Commission officials agreed with the opinion of the State Water Resources Department and the study reports that if the ECRF dam is built parallel to the wall, it will take a year.
The Water Commission has given permission to start the parallel ECRF dam works as soon as the construction of the 700-meter wall is completed. It is known that this was approved in principle in the review on Friday. Key decisions were taken in a three-day workshop held at the Polavaram project site from the sixth to the project office in Dhavaleswaram on Saturday.
In the review on the last day, the Water Commission made it clear that there would be no compromise on the quality of the project work. Water Commission Chief Engineer Vijay Saran said that the work would be inspected not only through video conference but also in person every 15 days.
He said that a meeting would be held at the project site again in February. He ordered the State Water Resources Department to set up a special laboratory in addition to the quality standard tests currently being conducted by the Central Soil-Materials Research Station (CSMRS). He said that the relevant reports should be provided to them through PPA from time to time.
He also ordered the Afri company, which is preparing the designs, to send them the diaphragm wall and ECRF dam designs. If the designs are sent by the end of this month, they will be examined and approved by next February.
The ECRF Dam area will be filled with Gap-1 and Gap-2, the activities to be undertaken to prevent seepage in the upper and lower coffer dams, and the vibro compaction works have been expressed.
Meanwhile, the State Water Resources Department has explained that once the diaphragm wall works reach 700 meters, if the ECRF Dam works are also started in parallel, the Polavaram main dam works will be completed by 2027, which will result in a year.