Hyderabad: The Centre on Thursday rejected Telangana’s plea seeking a survey of the Polavaram backwaters, for the construction of a bund.
It is to be noted that the state government sought a survey of the project by neutral agencies, following the floods in Bhadrachalam in July this year. In its response, the Union Jal Shakti ministry claimed that in studies conducted on the project in 2009 and 2011 not even 1/3 of the areas were submerged due to the backwaters.
In a virtual meeting with representatives of Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, Odisha, and Chattisgarh, the ministry alleged that Telangana had a misconception that the Polavaram backwater was causing flooding of Bhadrachalam. Following a request by the states, officials from the ministry agreed to clarify their doubts regarding the issue.
A technical committee comprising officials from the Central Water Commission and National Institute of Hydrology will put forth measures to prevent flooding. Officials from the ministry claimed that works to discharge 50 lakh cusec of water are being taken up, even though the states had requested to discharge 36 lakh cusec.
Earlier, Telangana had written to the Centre regarding the formation of the Central Water Commission comprising chief engineers of all riparian states.
