Foreign experts’ team assesses works at Gap-1 of Polavaram project

A team of foreign experts inspected the Polavaram project for the second consecutive day on Tuesday. The delegation comprised Sean Hinchberger, David B. Paul, and Gianfranco De Cicco, along with senior officials from various wings of the Ministry of Water Resources.

During the inspection, the experts reviewed soil stabilisation works at Gap-1 of the main dam. They assessed the strength and stability of the soil by excavating portions of the already compacted area and entering the pits to examine the level of consolidation.

At another location, the team observed the embankment soil placement process and the methods adopted for strengthening it. The degree of compaction achieved through rolling with heavy machinery was also closely monitored.

Earlier in the day, the experts held an extensive review meeting with the officials from the Central and State Water Resources Departments and representatives of the construction agency, Megha Engineering & Infrastructures Limited (MEIL).

During the meeting, clarifications were provided on the observations and queries raised by the experts during the first day’s field visit. Detailed discussions were also held on the design and configurations of Gap-2.

State Water Resources Department Adviser M. Venkateswara Rao, Engineer-in-Chief K. Narasimha Murthy, Polavaram Project Superintending Engineer R. Ramachandra Rao, MEIL General Manager A. Gangadhar, Deputy General Manager Murali Pammi, and other senior officials explained the technical aspects to the expert team and Central Government officials. The experts reviewed these inputs along with data independently collected during their field inspections and resolved outstanding queries.

The delegation also included Central Government officials Sarabjit Singh Bakshi, Manish Rathore, Gaurav Tiwari, and Hemanth Gautham; officers from CSMRS, including Manish Gupta and Ravi Agarwal; CWPRS representative V. S. Rama Rao; Polavaram Project Authority Member-Secretary M. Raghuram; Director K. Shankar; and NIRM Director Ajay Kumar Naitan, among others.