Expert team continues Polavaram inspection in Andhra Pradesh

VIJAYAWADA: The team of international experts continued its inspection of the Polavaram Irrigation Project for the second day on Monday, and went into the nitty-gritty of the problems.

The team inspected the Gap II of the project, upper and lower cofferdams, the damaged portion of diaphragm wall, seepage in cofferdams, and vibro compression works.

Project Chief Engineer Narasimha Murthy, Water Resource Department Advisor and retired Engineer-in-Chief (Irrigation) Venkateswara Rao and CWC officials explained the progress of the project works, various technologies adopted and where the problems occurred.

It is learnt that the experts have expressed dismay over letting the project flooded. David P Paul and Gain Franco de Sikko from the US, Richerd Danielle and Sean Hinch Berger from Canada, who are experts in international dam safety, structural engineering, structural solutions, civil engineering, hydraulics, and geo-technology engineering are on a four-day visit to the Polavaram project at the request of the Centre.

After studying the structures in-depth, the expert team will submit a report to the Jal Shakti Ministry.