Even as the Telugu Desam Party-led coalition government headed by Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu has been claiming that works on the Polavaram project are progressing at full speed despite heavy rains, reports from the ground suggest otherwise. Severe floods in the Godavari River are said to have hampered the construction activity.
According to the latest reports, continuous rainfall over the past 10 days has led to floodwaters entering the Polavaram project site, reportedly damaging a section of the upper cofferdam.
Sources indicate that the damage measures roughly 10 feet wide and 8 feet deep, but officials are allegedly trying to downplay the issue and prevent negative reports from reaching the media.
Irrigation officials, however, have maintained that the damage is not serious and that repairs have already been completed.
They added that seepage at the cofferdam continues, necessitating constant de-watering operations, even as construction of the diaphragm wall is underway.
This is not the first time such an incident has occurred. In August 2020, massive floods in the Godavari and with a flow of 21 lakh cusecs and washed away the half-built upper cofferdam and caused severe scouring at two points of the diaphragm wall, which had been constructed 90 feet deep into the riverbed. Engineers faced considerable challenges in carrying out repairs.
After Naidu returned to power in 2024, he enlisted the help of international experts to study the situation and propose solutions.
Based on their advice, it was decided to construct a new diaphragm wall and increase the height of the upper cofferdam to support further works.
Now, fresh structural damage has been reported at the section where the lower buttress dam construction meets the raised height and width of the upper cofferdam.
With the upper cofferdam once again suffering damage, sources say that the progress of diaphragm wall works is likely to be adversely affected.
