Work on Phase I of the Godavari and Penna river inter-linking project commenced

Construction work on Phase I of the Godavari and Penna river interlinking project by Megha Engineering and Infrastructures Limited has commenced. In Phase I, the scope of work involves lifting water from the Godavari river through pumps being installed at the Chintalapudi lift irrigation scheme and the Pattiseema lift irrigation scheme to the Krishna river through the right main canal of the Polavaram irrigation project. Water will be lifted from the Krishna river upstream of the Prakasam barrage near Harishchandrapuram (Thulluru mandal) to be delivered into the Nagarjunasagar Jawahar canal near Narsingapadu village (Nekarikallu mandal) with the help of five lifts with a total lift of 148.68 metres. A total of 20 pumps involving a pressure main of 10.09 km and gravity canal of 56.5 km will be constructed to divert water to the Nagarjunasagar canal. Phase I is being implemented at an estimated cost of Rs 60.2 billion. The project will be implemented in five phases and involves linking of five rivers (Godavari, Krishna, Nagavali, Vamsadhara and Pennar) in Andhra Pradesh at an investment of Rs 851.6 billion. It will help divert around 320 thousand million cubic feet of surplus water from the Godavari to cater to the needs of the Prakasam, Nellore and Rayalaseema regions.