‘Polavaram project could submerge at least 3 TS villages’

BHADRACHALAM : “Once the Polavaram project is completed, Telangana is going to be critically affected. The villages of Bhadrachalam, Manuguru and Aswapuram could be submerged due to the project backwaters,” State Chief Engineer Narasimha Rao told media persons.

He was visiting the district on Sunday as part of a team of irrigation engineers, in order to observe the river Godavari and study the possible issues that could be posed by the prestigious Polavaram project . They also observed the Godavari river bank in the Bhadrachalam.

According to Narasimha Rao, nearly 120 kilometres of area under the Godavari belt would be submerged under the project. “After the works are completed, if the project maintains a water level of 36 lakh cusecs, Godavari is going to rise to the mark of 43 ft (first warning level) in Bhadrachalam,” he said. IIT professor Sasidhar, executive engineer Ramaprasad and DEE Ravishanker were also present.