DRC, India to resume talks on stalled Katende dam & hydroelectric project

The government of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) is set to resume talks with its Indian counterpart on the possibilities of the recommencement of the implementation of the stalled Katende dam & hydroelectric project in the province of Kasaï-Central, in the Central African country.

This was revealed by Eustache Muhanzi, the DRC’s Minister of Hydraulic Resources and Electricity after visiting the site of the project and seeing the state of the equipment installed before the construction works came to a standstill approximately 4 years ago.[Readmore]

India hosting global dam experts meet in backdrop of Uttarakhand flash floods

The Uttarakhand tragedy earlier this month has once again raised the spectre of hydropower projects in the ecologically fragile regions.

NEW DELHI: India is hosting a high-level meeting of the Paris-headquartered International Commission on Large Dams (ICOLD). This symposium of experts on dams, to end tomorrow, comes in the backdrop of one of the worst human and ecological tragedy following a glacier burst and flash floods in Uttarakhand.

The incident earlier this month has renewed concerns over hydropower projects in the ecologically fragile and earthquake-prone Himalayan region.[Readmore]

Bureaucratic Reshuffle: 13 secretaries get new postings in major rejig

In a major bureaucratic reshuffle at the Centre, 13 Secretaries have been transferred and posted to different Ministries and departments while several senior civil servants have been promoted.

New Delhi: In a major bureaucratic reshuffle at the Centre, 13 Secretaries have been transferred and posted to different Ministries and departments while several senior civil servants have been promoted.

Deepak Khandekar gets the charge as Secretary, Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT), Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions.

Khandekar, a 1985-batch Madhya Pradesh cadre officer, is currently working as Secretary in Ministry of Tribal Affairs. He will replace his batchmate C Chandramouli of Tamil Nadu cadre.

Besides Khandekar, his batchmate Upendra Prasad Singh has been appointed Secretary in the Ministry of Textiles. Presently, Singh is serving as Secretary in the Department of Water Resources, River Development and Ganga Rejuvenation under the Ministry of Jal Shakti.

The Appointment Committee of the Cabinet (ACC), chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, approved the appointments on Saturday through an order.[Readmore]

Andhra Pradesh: Polavaram project designs may get panel’s nod today

AMARAVATI: In what could be a major development, the Dam Designs Review Panel (DDRP) is all set to finalise Polavaramproject designs.

DDRP, headed by former Central Water Commission (CWC) chairman AB Pandya, is holding the crucial session on Saturday to review and stamp its nod on the designs submitted by the project contractor Mehga Engineering and Infrastructure Limited (MEIL) through the state irrigation department. The panel members inspected the project works on Friday.

The review panel consists of YK Handa, former chief engineer, CWC, DP Bhargava, former director, NHPC, Polavaram project chief engineer, chief engineer (designs), CWC, chief engineer (HSO), CWC and chief engineer (designs), irrigation department of the state government.

The elite panel of water, power and irrigation engineers had already examined the designs of the project readied in 3-D mode at Central Water and Power Research Station (CWPRS) in Pune before arriving at the project.

The clearance of the final designs of the project is crucial to take the project to the next phase. The panel is examining the designs readied by the irrigation department based on project outflows from the spillway.

The project contractor Megha Engineering and Infrastructure Limited (MEIL) constructed the model design in about one acre space in CWPRS in Pune and presented the model to the DDRP members.[Readmore]

Andhra Pradesh: Polavaram project sample designs to be examined in Pune on February 18

A team of experts from the Central and State Water Resources Departments has decided to finalize key designs based on the consequences of pumping high pressure water into the Polavaram project spillway. As part of this, a 3-D-acre model at the Central Water and Power Research Station (CWPRS) in Pune will be examined on the 18th of this month. A team of experts led by former chairman of the Central Water Board (CWC) AB Pandya, DDRP (Dam Design Review Panel), Polavaram Project Authority (PPA), State Water Resources Department ENC C. Narayana Reddy and others will travel to Pune. Experiments by a team of CWPRS officials on the model Polavaram project will evaluate their results. Based on these analyses, the Polavaram Reservoir works will be examined at the field level on 19th, 20th and 21st of this month and the pending designs will be finalized and sent to the CWC for approval.[Readmore]

Construction of 52 pillars on the spillway of Polavaram project over

For the spillway bridge, the company had completed laying of 45 slabs while the work on laying three more slabs are nearing completion

Vijayawada: The construction of 52 pillars of 52-metre-high on the spillway of Polavaram irrigation project was completed, said Megha Engineering and Infrastructures Limited.

The company, which has taken up the execution of Polavaram project, said that they had completed the construction of 52 pillars at a height of 52 meters each on the spillway by Thursday and claimed that their works were hindered in the last year due to heavy rains and floods and outbreak of Covid-19 pandemic.[Readmore]

Uttarakhand glacier burst: At least 50 missing, two dams damaged

About 50 labourers who were working at the under-construction Rishiganga dam are said to be missing.

The water level in the Dhauliganga river rose suddenly following an avalanche near a power project at Raini village in Tapovan area of Chamoli district.(ANI via REUTERS)

At least 50 people were missing after a massive glacial burst swept through an under construction dam in Tapovan area in Chamoli district, about 300 km east of Dehradun on Sunday morning, officials said.[Readmore]