Andhra Pradesh Govt. reverses stand on dam height

By Our Special Correspondent

HYDERABAD, JAN. 8. The Ichampalli project proposed on Godavari, which could not take off for more than two decades due to inter- State dispute over the height of the dam, is back in focus again.

The multi-purpose project, aimed at irrigating 1.57 lakh acres in the backward Telangana region and generating 975 MWs of power remained a pipe dream, as an agreement on the dam height between the Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh and Andhra Pradesh Governments proved elusive.

The dispute was ``back to square one'' with the State Government deciding to pursue with the Centre, the original proposal to build the dam upto a height of 112.77 metres. This had been opposed by Maharastra and Madhya Pradesh as the project lay at their borders.

The dam, proposed at a site near Mukunur village in Madhapur mandal of Karimnagar district bordering the then Madhya Pradesh State and now, the newly-created Chattisgarh State, would submerge 229 villages, mostly in Maharashtra and Chattisgarh, and displace about a lakh of the population.

The Inter-State Water Dispute Tribunal headed by Justice Bachawat examined the project and suggested in the award that a dam could be built with a commonly-agreed Full Reservoir Level. An agreement, in fact, was reached among the three States in 1978 on the dam height (112.77 metres) but objections were raised subsequently by Maharastra and Madhya Pradesh.

The National Water Development Agency, the investigation wing of the Ministry of Water Resources, had submitted an alternative scheme to the Government in 1995, suggesting that the dam be lowered by about 17 metres and built at a height of 95 metres to avert the need for an agreement with the other two States. The submersion at this level was limited to lands in the State and the ayacut envisaged in the original proposal, safeguarded though NWDA proposals, ruled out the possibility of power generation.

The Central Water Commission (CWC) had indicated its willingness to clear the project if the dam height was lowered. However, this was not favoured by the Government and the project continued to hang fire with no initiative from any of the three States concerned.

In July last year, in the wake of the formation of the Godavari Waters Utilisation Authority (GWUA), the Government decided to go ahead with the construction of a 95-metre high dam, keeping the option of raising its height in future. This stand facilitated an exercise on working out the project costs and preparing technical reports. It was estimated that the dam with a height of 95 metres would cost Rs. 2,050 crores and if the height was raised to 112.77 metres, the cost would then come to Rs. 3,199 crores.

But the latest stand of the Government to stick to the originally-proposed height of 112.77 metres, taken at a meeting of the GWUA presided over by the Chief Minister, Mr. N. Chandrababu Naidu, on December 26, triggered off protests from the BJP, the Congress and Left party leaders. The Government was keen on the original proposal as it would enable it to generate 975 MWs of hydel power.

Leaders of these parties, the BJP in particular, argued that the CWC had clearly ruled out permission to the 112.77-metre high dam saying ``it would set the Government again on a wild goose chase.''

Two BJP Ministers, Mr. Bandaru Dattatreya and Mr. Ch. Vidyasagar Rao, reacted strongly to the Government's decision to revive the project as originally conceived, unmindful of the strong reservations of the neighbouring States. They feared that the project would end up as a distant dream what with the shifting stand of the Government on the dam's height.

The Forum for Utilisation of Godavari Waters, headed by the former Congress Minister, Mr. M. Shashidhar Reddy, decided to call on the Prime Minister, Mr. A.B. Vajpayee, to explain the ``implications'' of the latest stand of the Government, ``which would only delay the project and deprive the backward Telangana of its due share of Godavari waters.''

Under the Bachawat Tribunal Award announced in 1975, Andhra Pradesh was apportioned a share of 1479 tmc ft. of water out of the dependable yield of 2750 tmc ft. in Godavari. But the State utilised only 700 tmc ft. and the remaining quantity flowed into the sea.

The Inchamapalli project was designed for the utilisation of about 145 tmc ft. of water. Other major and medium irrigation projects proposed for tapping the available assured water included Polavaram which can utilise upto 385 tmc ft..

A staggering amount of Rs. 20,000 crores is required for exploiting the allotted share of Godavari water by the State. The Government is mulling over the sources of finances of such a tall order.

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