The Indian Central Government has extended the construction permit for the prestigious Polavaram project in Andhra Pradesh. Prakash Javadekar, Union Environment Minister, made the announcement at the Indian Parliament office on Wednesday 26 June. 2019. The extension of the construction permit of the Polavaram project is seen as a major development for Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh, YS Jaganmohan Reddy, and his State Government.
The multipurpose Polavaram project has been in the pipeline for many years. The project was planned to provide water to 25 lakh people including Visakhapatnam, East and West Godavari districts and Krishna district. The project is also expected to generate hydel power at a capacity of 960 MW. The canals will be providing drinking water to 540 villages en route and will be a source of irrigation for approximately 3 lakh hectares of farmland.
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In 2011, the Indian Central Government had stalled the construction of the dam. In 2014, the construction was again shown the green signal and has continued the status of that order for the last five years. Given the importance of the project, the Ministry announced the extension of the construction permission for two more years without permission to impound water.
The Indian Central Government had agreed to sanction an amount of Rs.55,587 Crores towards the project after reviewing the proposal by the Andhra Pradesh Government. Last week, the AP Chief Minister visited the project for the first time since coming to power. He reviewed the work done and promised the completion of the project by mid-2020 while cooperating with the Centre to overcome obstacles.
The Polavaram Hydro Electric Project is being constructed over the River Godavari, in the East and West Godavari districts. The project was given the status of a national project in 2014 by the Union Government of India. The project is also set to give a major boost to tourism as the reservoir comes under the Papikonda National Park.
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