Date:13/12/2004 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2004/12/13/stories/2004121305540400.htm

Andhra Pradesh

Polavaram caught in a name game

By Our Special Correspondent

HYDERABAD, DEC. 12. Whenever a new party comes to power, the names of projects and welfare schemes also undergo changes. The Polavaram multi-purpose project has gone through such a metamorphosis four times.

The result is that today people are unable to identity this project, unless a reference is made to the place and the river, the Godavari.

The British conducted a survey on the Godavari and identified Polavaram as the best point for tapping the mighty river. Sonti Ramamurthy, the then chief secretary of the Madras State of which Andhra was a part, christened it "Sriramapada Sagar" keeping in mind that the reservoir of the project would extend up to the feet of Lord Rama at Bhadrachalam.

Fitting in Sita too

Then somebody raised a point -- why leave out the Lord's consort? So, the name was prefixed a few years later with "Sri Sita." But, the project did not take off. It was only in 1980 that the then Chief Minister, T. Anjaiah, laid its foundation stone. He called it "Polavaram." M. Channa Reddy, who became Chief Minister later, however, preferred the name "Sriramapada Sagar," perhaps due to his long association with the Bhadrachalam temple, which he had renovated.

That was not the end. In tune with his penchant for giving Telugu names, NTR renamed the project "Godavari Srujala Sravanti." While grounding works last month, the present Chief Minister, Y. S. Rajasekhara Reddy, replaced this with "Indira Sagar." Will this name stay? There are lingering doubts whether the Rs. 7,900-crore project will proceed without further twists and turns in its name.