Visakhapatnam Industrial Water Supply Company to repair Yeleru Left Main Canal from February 15 to March 27

VISWCO officials inspecting the Yeleru Left Main Canal at Golugondapeta in Anakapalli district, as part of the preparations for Closure of the canal for repair works from February 15 to Match 27.
| Photo Credit: Special Arrangement

The Visakhapatnam Industrial Water Supply Company (VIWSCO) will undertake the repair work of Yeleru Left Main Canal (YLMC) from February 15 to March 27 at an estimated cost of ₹7.99 crore. This will improve its capacity from the coming summer-2025 and beyond.

VIWSCO supplies water to the Greater Visakhapatnam Municipal Corporation (GVMC) to meet the drinking water needs of 25 lakh population in the city, and industrial needs of Rashtriya Ispat Nigam Limited-Visakhapatnam Steel Plant, NTPC Simhadri, APIIC-Achyutapuram SEZ, Gangavaram Port, and also cater to the needs of rural areas through Rural Water Supply schemes. The YLMC is the main line of VIWSCO’s prime raw water sources, Yeleru reservoir and Godavari river.

The State government has decided to immediately take up all the remaining works of package-8 of the Polavaram Left Main Canal (PLMC) at an estimated cost of ₹100 crore. The YLMC is part of it. Then, the State Water Resources Department has brought the issue to the notice of VIWSCO regarding the PLMC works, and informed about the ‘closing of YLMC’ for at least 60 days, for two years 2024-2025 and 2025-2026.

“VIWSCO has taken the opportunity to undertake repairs of structures and removal of bushes in the deep cut reaches of YLMC as its responsibility to improve the canal capacity during the ‘closing period (February 15 to March 27). After detailed discussions with all our customers and Polavaram Irrigation Project officials, our VIWSCO Board has decided to undertake 19 repair works for 40 days at a cost of ₹7.99 crore during the closing period. Tenders are in the final stage. During this period, VIWSCO users will have to draw water from their storage reservoirs and other sources,” VIWSCO director P. Sivaprasad Raju told The Hindu on Sunday (January 26).

Mr. Raju, who is also the GVMC Chief Engineer, said that GVMC generally draws 42 MGD (million gallons of water per day) from YLMC through VIWSCO. Since water is not supplied through YLMC during the closure, GVMC will go for alternative arrangements by drawing 34 MGD of water from Meghadrigedda reservoir using Narava filter plants, and 8 MGD of water from RINL-VSP’s Kaniti Balancing Reservoir-I through its storage points at Gajuwaka (6 MGD) and Aganampudi (2 MGD).

“Therefore, there may be no shortage of drinking water in Visakhapatnam city during the closure of the YLMC in the summer of 2025,” Mr. Raju assured.