The Hindu Business Line : Deadline for Godavari water scheme extended

THE State Government has extended the deadline for completing the Visakhapatnam Industrial Water Supply Scheme due to the delay in taking up work on the filtration tank at Narava. Consequently, supply of Godavari water to citizens will be delayed.

Industries, including the steel plant, are already being supplied with the water.

The scheme is meant for the diversion of 5,000 million cubic feet (tmc ft) of Godavari water to Vizag, half of it for industrial use and the rest for the citizens.

L&T has executed the scheme and has diverted the water to Vizag. The Visakhapatnam municipal corporation, however, is unable to receive the water, as the filtration plant has not been completed yet.

After a review meeting here on Sunday, the Minister for Roads and Buildings, Mr J. Rammohana Rao, said the Godavari water would be pumped into the city by February 2006.

Mr Rao, in charge of the district, said all the areas in the city would be able to get the Godavari water for 24 hours by July 2008.

The District Collector, Mr Praveen Prakash, the Joint Collector, Mr Sandeep Kumar Sultania, the Municipal Commissioner, Mr N. Srikant, the Visakhapatnam Urban Development Authority (VUDA) Chairman, Mr P. S. N. Raju (Ravi) and the Vice-Chairman, G. Venkatram Reddy attended the meeting.

The Minister said the appointment of a new contractor for the filtration tank (as the previous contractor had failed to complete the work as per schedule) had caused undue delay in bringing the Godavari water to the city.

International airport Mr Rao announced that the Government would study the opinion of experts before taking a final decision on the location of an international airport. The Chief Minister, Y. S. Rajasekhara Reddy, had entrusted the job of selecting a site extending over 3,000 acres for the international airport to him and the Minister for Commercial Taxes, Konathala Ramakrishna, he said. Mr Rao said the Government would expedite work on a Rs 60-crore project to prevent the inundation of the INS Dega airport.

He clarified that while continuing work on the Rs 200-crore modernisation of the existing airport, efforts would be continued for the construction of an international airport, keeping in view the long-term requirements of the city.

The project to prevent flooding of INS Dega airport will be taken up in two phases — urgent steps will be taken to prevent inundation and later to solve the problem permanently. A team of the Central Water Commission would visit the city in a week, he said.

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