Central water officials review Polavaram works

Polavaram: The officials of the Central Water and Power Research Station—scientist-E, M Selva Balan, scientist-C, JK Singh, RA from SMA division Khalil Bhagawan—visited the Polavaram project on Tuesday and observed the working of the instrumentation in the gallery. They went around to find out how many boxes were installed and how many are yet to be installed and also the working of these boxes. The CWPRS officials were accompanied by Irrigation Chief Engineer Sudhakar Babu, superintending engineer Narasimha Murthy, executive engineer Adi Reddy, DEE Rameswar Naidu, Megha Engineering vice-president Rangarajan, general manager Muddukrishna, Devmani Mishra, AGM Rajesh Kumar, manager Murali.[Readmore]

Batpady sea erosion: Ports Department to get expert advice from CWPRS

Beach erosion has intensified at Batpady despite execution of ADB-funded Someshwara Beach Rejuvenation Project.

With the Asian Development Bank-funded Someshwara Beach Rejuvenation Project coming to and end and southern parts of the stretch in Batpady getting completely eroded, the Ports Department has decided to get technical guidance from the Central Water and Power Research Station, Pune, to prevent erosion.

The ADB-funded project was active for about four years during which a special unit of the department constructed ten groynes horizontally into the sea between Uchchila and Batpady. It also constructed two offshore reefs on the Uchchila-Batpady stretch. Both these structures were intended to break the velocity of waves and help beach rejuvenation. Close to ₹240 crore was said to have been spent on this project.

While beach erosion has considerably reduced on the Uchchila stretch where the groynes and one offshore reef were constructed, it has aggravated at the Batpady stretch where one reef was constructed. Local residents had been demanding the construction of two or three more groynes towards the Kerala border, which did not happen.

Executive Engineer of Udupi Division with Ports Department, Tharakesh Phayde told The Hindu that a team from CWPRS was expected to visit Batpady stretch this month-end or during the first week of October to study the encroachment and determine the reasons. CWPRS will also be asked to evaluate the impact of the beach rejuvenation project. Once the institute submits its recommendations, the department will take necessary action, he said.[Readmore]