Foreign experts are working on an evaluation meeting for the Polavaram project on Tuesday.
A team of foreign experts inspected the Polavaram project for the second consecutive day on Tuesday. The delegation consisted of 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 the soil stabilization works in the Gap-1 main embankment. They assessed the strength and stability of the soil by excavating parts of the already compacted area and entering pits to examine the level of consolidation.
Elsewhere, the team observed the process of placing the soil in the embankment and the methods used to consolidate it. The degree of compaction achieved by rolling with heavy machinery was also closely monitored.
Earlier in the day, the experts held a large-scale review meeting with officials from central and state water resources departments and representatives of construction agency Megha Engineering & Infrastructures Limited (MEIL).
During the meeting, clarifications were provided on the observations and questions raised by the experts during the first field visit. There were also detailed discussions about the design and configurations of Gap-2.
State Water Resources Department Adviser M. Venkateswara Rao, Chief Engineer K. Narasimha Murthy, Polavaram Project Chief Engineer R. Ramachandra Rao, MEIL Director General A. Gangadhar, Deputy Director General Murali Pammi and other senior officials explained the technical aspects to the team of experts and Central Government officials. Experts reviewed these inputs along with data independently collected during field inspections and resolved outstanding questions.
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 VS Rama Rao; Polavaram Project Authority Member-Secretary M. Raghuram; Director K. Shankar; and NIRM Director Ajay Kumar Naitan, among others.
Published – 20 January 2026 21:00 IST
