Tuesday, September 29, 2015

Leave the comfort of Hyderabad, Jagan told - ANDHRA PRADESH - The Hindu

Monday, September 28, 2015

Doubts expressed over deadline for LNG floating terminal - ANDHRA PRADESH - The Hindu

B.V.S. BHASKAR
The fresh memorandum of understanding (MoU) signed three days ago between Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu and GAIL Chairman B.C. Tripathi to start liquefied natural gas production at the floating LNG terminal in the Kakinada deep water port (KDWP) may not come true in the next 18 months.
Oil and natural gas analysts say the consortium – comprising the Andhra Pradesh Gas Distribution Corporation (APGDC), GDF Suez, Shell and GAIL – has previously failed to achieve that target and even basic operations have not started in 18 months, though the preliminary hurdle of a public hearing has been crossed.
GAIL sources say last year’s MoU was only a preliminary one, and the fresh one is about a joint venture. When D. Sambasiva Rao was holding additional charge of the Industries and Investments Department, he advised the State Government to allow only the APGDC-GDF-Suez-Shell consortium to build the LNG terminal at KDWP and not any private investor.
The government was told that the consortium would complete the task within the deadline of 18 months, but nothing happened during that period and the deadline expired in August 2015.
The new MoU signed in Vijayawada last week, oil and gas analyst M.V.S.R. Kamesham says, gives the consortium another 18 months, starting anew.
“It’s old wine in a new bottle. In my experience of 40 years in the oil and natural gas sector, it’s not easy for government consortiums to go for production during that short period,” said Mr. Kamesam.
The GAIL general manager at Rajahmundry M.V. Iyer said it is lay pipelines through villages. “Village heads and political leaders are not allowing our pipelines to pass through their villages. They demand not only compensation, but also put many other demands. If the collectors and other revenue officials cooperate, the project will go smoothly,” he added.

Tuesday, September 22, 2015

Pump, motor hurriedly transported - ANDHRA PRADESH - The Hindu

B.V.S. BHASKAR

Due to the delay, the sixth pump and motor of the Handri-Neeva project was hurriedly transported from Kurnool on September 12 by the chief engineer of the Handri-Neeva project.

It reached the Kalaparru toll gate on the morning of September 13 and reached Pattisam village even as engineers worked round the clock to meet the September 16 deadline. Sources said the superintendent engineer of Pattiseema was told on September 14 that release of water should be achieved on the morrow so that the Godavari-Krishna confluence could be really, and not notionally, achieved on September 16.

On the other hand, the chief engineer of Handri-Neeva is said to have been told that whenever the Chinese shipment reached Pattiseema, the two borrowed pumps would be sent back.It was learnt that the superintendent engineer of Pattiseema as well as the chief engineer of Handri-Neeva were initially reluctant about this make-shift arrangement.

As it turned out, engineers at Pattiseema were not able to fix the Handri-Neeva pumps at the site as the basement sizes and steel fixtures designed for the Chinese pumps were not suited for the local pumps from Handri-Neeva.Despite the Godavari floodwaters not arriving at the confluence point of Ferry on the banks of the Krishna, the Chief Minister went ahead with his notional celebration, and directed that Pattiseema should be operational within 24 hours.

On Friday, minister Umamaheswara Rao again did puja at Pattiseema, switched on a pump and claimed that the prestigious project was now operational.

Within 36 hours of this, the Polavaram right main canal, meant to carry the Pattiseema waters to the Krishna developed a breach due to heavy rains along the streams feeding it.Sources said the breach to the Polavaram canal is no way connected to the Pattiseema waters.

They said it was only due to the pressure mounted on engineers that the incomplete Polavaram right canal was patched up for the confluence function, and therefore was vulnerable to heavy inflows

Polavaram canal breach leaves govt. embarrassed - ANDHRA PRADESH - The Hindu

B.V.S. BHASKAR

The breach to the Polavaram right main canal on Saturday night has become the cause of embarrassment to the State government, happening as it did a little more than a day after Irrigation Minister Devineni Umamaheshwara Rao claimed to have switched on the motors to make the Pattiseema lift irrigation scheme operational.

Sources said that the pumps were not in fact put in place and that the scheme did not become operational. The completion, as claimed by the government, was only notional.

The Pattiseema project is part of Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu’s pet scheme of linking the Godavari and the Krishna. It is designed to pump Godavari flood water into the Polavaram right main canal which transports it on to the Krishna. The confluence was notionally celebrated by the Chief Minister on September 16 and certified as achieved when Mr Umamaheshwara switched on the ‘pump’ on Friday.

But the collapse of an aqueduct in the canal a day later brought to light facts that the confluence was only notional. The pumps requisitioned from China for the Pattiseema project had not arrived by the September 16 deadline set by the Chief Minister, and makeshift pumps had to be brought from the Handri-Neeva project in Kurnool district for the purpose.

Sources in the latter project site confirmed to The Hindu that they did send one of their pumps for ‘testing’ at Pattiseema.

Further, sources at the Pattiseema site said even the borrowed pumps did not achieve the government’s purpose of achieving the operationalisation of the project. Highly placed sources said no water was in fact released from the Pattiseema project as claimed by irrigation officials.

They added that installation of the 4.71 MV motor and two new pumps, each with a capacity to pump 354 cusecs of water per hour, at Pattiseema has not yet been done as the equipment has still not arrived from China.

Due to the delay, the sixth pump and motor of the Handri-Neeva project was hurriedly transported from Kurnool on September 12 by the chief engineer of the Handri-Neeva project. It reached the Kalaparru toll gate on the morning of September 13 and reached Pattisam village even as engineers worked round the clock to meet the September 16 deadline.

Sources said the superintendent engineer of Pattiseema was told on September 14 that release of water should be achieved on the morrow so that the Godavari-Krishna confluence could be really, and not notionally, achieved on September 16.

On the other hand, the chief engineer of Handri-Neeva is said to have been told that whenever the Chinese shipment reached Pattiseema, the two borrowed pumps would be sent back.

Sources said the breach to the Polavaram canal is no way connected to the Pattiseema waters. They said it was only due to the pressure mounted on engineers that the incomplete Polavaram right canal was patched up for the confluence function, and therefore was vulnerable to heavy inflows

Wednesday, September 9, 2015

Pump, motors yet to reach Pattiseema - ANDHRA PRADESH - The Hindu

Pump, motors yet to reach Pattiseema

B.V.S. BHASKAR
Farmers of Krishna and West Godavari districts are expressing doubts on whether or not the first pump of the Pattiseema Lift Irrigation Scheme (PLIS) will be installed by September 15 as the machinery shipped from China had not reached Gujarat port till the evening of September 8.
On Wednesday morning, however, the irrigation officials received communication from Gujarat saying that one motor and two pumps were unloaded and they would be sent by road either tonight or Thursday morning.
Ramesh Babu, Superintendent Engineer of Pattiseema Project told The Hindu that it would take at least 36 hours for the machines to reach PLIS site and another 48 hours for their installation and connection.
“With all probabilities and if the rain god supports us, we will have two pumps ready by September 15 morning,” he said.
The capacity of the pump is 354 cusecs per hour and if the 4.71 MV motor runs for 24 hours 0.3 tmcft water will be pumped into the canal. “We want to fix 24 pumps to lift 8,500 cusecs of water by next February,” Mr. Ramesh Babu said.
However, the tail-end farmers in West Godavari and also some parts in Krishna district were opposed to the release of water through the right canal.

Second thoughts on deleting lessons - ANDHRA PRADESH - The Hindu

Second thoughts on deleting lessons

B.V.S. BHASKAR

The Andhra Pradesh Government has developed cold feet on deleting some lessons relating to Telangana from school textbooks. Last month, on August 22, it had passed an order directing the State Council of Educational Research and Training (SCERT) to cut out lessons that contain references to Telangana or Telangana writers and personalities but kept it abeyance on August 31 and withdrew it altogether on September 4.
Among the lessons initially sought to be deleted were a eulogy written by former Prime Minister P.V. Narasimha Rao on Burgula Ramakrishna Rao, the first Chief Minister of Hyderabad state, and a lesson on the peasants struggle against the Nizam’s rule.

It all started with Human Resources Development Minister Ganta Srinivasa Rao stating that “lessons which are not having native content should be deleted.” Accordingly, the A.P. School Education Department and SCERT Director issued an order (RC. No. 279/B/C&T/SCERT/2014 Dated 22/8/2015) stating that about 17 lessons that are non-relevant, beyond the comprehension of the learners and those having unfamiliar words need not be taught to pupils. The lesson relating to Burgula Ramakrishna Rao was an appreciation titled ‘Nene yerigina Burgula’ written by former Prime Minister P.V. Narasimha Rao was to have been scrapped from the class 10 Telugu Text book (page 58-65).

Similarly, a lesson titled ‘Khanijaalu, ganula tavvakam’ was sought to be deleted from the social studies textbook for Class 8 as it referred primarily to the Singareni coal mines in Telangana.

Two lessons relating to the history of Nizamate Hyderabad, titled ‘Chinnappude’ and ‘Hyderabad Samsthana Vimochana Dinotsavam’ were both judged to be of no relevance to Andhra Pradesh. Within 12 days of the order, the SCERT director released another note stating, “All the District Educational Officers in the State are hereby informed that there are no changes in the present textbooks from Class V to Class X in all subjects.”

Minister Srinivasa Rao himself said, “We have not asked to delete any lesson of Telangana from textbooks of Andhra Pradesh.”