The Central and State Governments have come to a preliminary opinion that the construction work of the diaphragm wall should be handed over to Megha, the old contracting company.
–Galla S Kiran Kumar, Bureau Chief
to take a joint decision that the state government
should hand over the steps to the working monopolist, the Union Minister
favors that decision.
CM Chandrababu offering Shrivari Prasad to Union Minister CR Patil. Rama Naidu, Rammohan Naidu, MP Appalanaidu in the picture
Today-Delhi, Amaravati: The central and state governments have come to a preliminary opinion that the construction work of the diaphragm wall should be handed over to Megha, the old contracting firm. It is learned that during the meeting held by CM Chandrababu with Union Water Power Minister CR Patil on Friday, a consensus was reached. It is reported that Megha Company is ready to construct 73 thousand cubic meters of diaphragm wall as per the prices of 2022, so there will not be any additional burden on the government and also it has been decided that the time taken to call new tenders and select new ones can be saved. It is learned that the Union Minister has revealed that although they are positive to give the old monopolist, they will not give any written instructions, however the final decision in this matter is the state government. State Water Resources Minister Nimmala Ramanaidu has revealed that the final decision on this will be taken soon and Megha is likely to be handed over the work.
Chief Minister Chandrababu, who came to Delhi to meet the Prime Minister, Home Minister, Finance Minister and Jal Shakti Minister about the implementation of the announcements made to Andhra Pradesh in the budget, had a meeting with Jal Shakti Minister CR Patil on Friday evening. They discussed ways to speed up the construction of the Polavaram project and the assistance required from the central government. The leaders who participated in this meeting said that the construction of new diaphragm wall was clarified in this meeting.
To save time and money: Minister Nimmala
State Water Resources Minister Nimmala Ramanaidu said that in order to save time and money in the construction of the diaphragm wall, the idea is to continue the construction of the new diaphragm wall through the old agency. “The alliance government is working with the idea of completing Polavaram on war footing. CM Chandrababu discussed with Union Minister CR Patil, CWC and PPA officials for over an hour. We have decided to approve the designs and move ahead to complete the project work without losing the season which starts from November. When it was discussed whether to continue the construction of the new diaphragm wall with the old one or to invite new tenders, all the officials expressed a consensus that it should be done with the old one. In the past, CWC and PPA had warned against changing the agency. When tenders were called for repairs in 2022 when the diaphragm wall was damaged, the old contract firm expressed its readiness to do 29,000 square meters of wall work at a cost of Rs.390 crore. Now the new diaphragm wall has to work 73 thousand cubic meters. Now with the prices of 2022, all the officials are of the opinion that if they continue with the same agency, the Polavaram project will be completed quickly without any delay in the construction of the wall. Earlier there was a delay of ten years due to change of agency. In order not to repeat the mistakes of history and not to put an additional burden on the government, the opinion was expressed in the meeting that the work should be continued with the old agency. The damage to the diaphragm wall was the fault of the previous government, not the old agency. Hyderabad IIT said that as the then government did not complete the construction of the upper coffer dam, the 23 lakh cusecs of flood water that came in August 2020 swirled in its gaps and the sand in front of the diaphragm wall eroded 50-60 feet deep and damaged the diaphragm wall. 70-80% completion of the cofferdam by May 2019 would have been 100% completion by June-July if the old agency had continued. Failure to do so resulted in damage to the diaphragm wall. Bauer is an internationally renowned company. If necessary, we will use the services of that company,” said Nimmala Ramanaidu. Union Ministers Rammohan Naidu, Pemmasani Chandrasekhar, Bhupathiraju Srinivasavarma, TDP Parliamentary Party Leader Lau Srikrishna Devarayalu, MP Kalishetty Appalanaidu and others participated in the meeting.
Diaphragm wall built as part of Polavaram
Chandrababu met the Prime Minister and Union Ministers today
Chief Minister Chandrababu will meet Prime Minister at 4.30 pm on Saturday, Finance Minister at 6 pm and Home Minister Amit Shah at 7 pm. If possible, there is a possibility to meet the Union Minister of External Affairs Jaishankar.
Work for 73 thousand cubic meters
When the old diaphragm wall was repaired in 2022, the work of 29 thousand cubic meters was awarded at a cost of Rs.390 crores. At present, if the new diaphragm wall is to be constructed, it is estimated that the work will increase to 73 thousand cubic meters. To that extent, the value of the work will also increase to Rs.1000 crores. There is also a possibility of changes in the designs based on the discussions and recommendations of the foreign expert team. It remains to be seen how the volume of work will increase after those developments. After the completion of the resolution of the State Council of Ministers, at the time of signing the contract, the water resources department informed that the water resources department is going to make a condition for Megha Sanstha to sign a contract with the people who have experience of doing this work from a depth of 100 meters in the bed of Godavari in the construction of diaphragm wall
