On February 15, the supreme court asked the Central Water Commission (CWC) to examine and submit a report on the nature and extent of submergence that the Polavaram project in Andhra Pradesh may

The government is conducting a socio-economic survey in the Bhadrachalam forests to find out the status of primitive tribal groups who will be displaced by the Polavaram project. The minister for major irrigation, Mr Ponnala Lakshmaiah, told the Council that that the survey had been concluded in 276 villages. Ten more villages are left to be surveyed. Kondareddis, one of the primitive groups, live in the Bhadrachalam forests. Mr Lakshmaiah was reacting to MLCs who asked the government to explain the status of the primitive tribes. Mr P. Yadagiri (TD) said, advocates who were filing cases on behalf of displaced people were minting money. The minister said land acquisition was done with the consent of the locals and there was no role of advocates. The Chief Minister, Dr Y.S. Rajashekar Reddy said collectors were asked to be liberal while granting compensation to displaced persons.

West Godavari collector G. Jayalakshmi called for coordination among revenue and irrigation authorities to expedite land acquisition and rehabilitation works to complete the execution of Polavaram Indira Sagar project. Taking part in a review meeting on the progress of the project works here on Monday, she asked officials and agencies involved in the construction works to take up construction of houses to provide rehabilitation to project-affected persons. She said that the government argeted construction of 4,000 houses estimated to cost Rs 16 crore. The collector asked contracting agencies to supply iron, sand, cement, bricks and other required material to take up construction of houses and assured them that the government would pay the amount for supplying the material. The collector said land acquisition for the construction of project head works was almost compl-ete. She advised contracting agencies not to use delay in land acquisition as a pretext to delay the execution of the project. She dir-ected the executive engine-ers to come up with line sk-etches and other details of the project by February 27.

The multi-crore Polavaram project in Andhra Pradesh is currently embroiled in legal issues. But now, the project is being contested on technical issues as well. A study carried out by the

Much to the Andhra Pradesh government's dismay, the National Environmental Appellate Authority has quashed the environmental clearance for the state's multi-crore Indira Sagar Project, formerly known

Perspectives on Polavaram, A Major Irrigation Project on Godavari

FEW roads cruise so perfectly through life's close hits and misses as the road to Kondamodalu - a quiet, beautiful village nestled in the Papikondalu hills in Devipatnam mandal of East Godavari district in Andhra Pradesh - does.

Construction at Polavaram stopped