Work on the mega Polavaram irrigation project resumed on Friday by the new contractor, Hyderabad-based Megha Engineering and Infrastructure Ltd, , according to the Andhra Pradesh Irrigation Minister Anil Kumar Yadav.

Briefing the media at Amaravati on Friday, he said the High Court had cleared the reverse tendering process in the national project on the Godavari river in West Godavari district on Thursday. The remaining head works as well as the hydel power project works had been awarded to Megha Engineering , as it was the sole bidder. The previous contract given to Navayuga Engineering Co Ltd by the earlier TDP government had been revoked. Navayuga had moved the High Court and the legal hurdle was cleared on Thursday, he added.

Reverse tendering

He said as much as ₹800 crore was saved by adopting the reverse tendering process, advocated by Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy, and “for the past few months the opposition TDP and other parties have been raising a hue and cry that work on the project has been stopped. We have silenced them with our action. As promised, we resumed the work on November 1.” He explained that work at the site had been stopped at the project site due to the floods and as soon as the floods receded the work had started. “We will complete the project by May-June, 2021, as our officials have estimated and we will prove TDP leaders wrong. We will not fool the public with false assurances. The oft-repeated claim of former chief minister N Chandrababu Naidu that 70 per cent of the project has been completed is rubbish.”

He accused the previous government of totally neglecting relief and rehabilitation works and said his government would also focus on that aspect.

 

Megha Engineering and Infrastructures Ltd (MEIL) plans to complete the Polavaram Project on a fast track mode, within two years by pooling all its resources.

 

The company will draw on its experience of completing the complex Kaleshwaram Lift Irrigation Project and the Pattiseema Godavari-Krishna linking project.

 

The State government inked an agreement and set a two year deadline to complete the project. The company officials performed Bhoomi pooja at Spillway block No 18 soon after the agreement.

MEIL bagged the reverse tender with an offer of ₹4,358 crore, which was lower by 12.6 per cent. The State had invited the bid for ₹4,987 crore.

The Polavaram project is intended to stabilise the ayacut and water supply for two crops in a year.

The project proposes to supply irrigation water for 7.2 lakh acres, generate 960 MW hydropower and lift 80 TMC of water to the Prakasam Barrage on Krishna river. It also aims to supply 23.44 TMC of drinking water to Visakhapatnam.

It will solve the drinking water problem in 540 villages along the Polavaram project.

The company plans to begin works on the main reservoir and the hydropower station simultaneously. All necessary mandatory clearances for the project are in place.

 

 

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