Polavaram Dam

Polavaram Dam (formally the Polavaram Irrigation Project, PIP) is one of India's most contentious and complex dam projects under construction. Located on the Godavari river near Polavaram village in West Godavari district of Andhra Pradesh, the dam is designed for a peak flood discharge of 50 lakh cusecs (1.42 lakh cumecs) — the world's largest spillway by design discharge, exceeding even the Three Gorges Dam in China.

The project's central engineering challenge is its Godavari basin location: the river's seasonal discharge varies enormously between dry and wet seasons, peaking at 50 lakh cusecs during 1986-style flood events. The 48 radial gates of the spillway (each 16 m × 20 m) are the world's largest array of radial gates on a single structure, designed to discharge this flow without damaging downstream villages.

The dam was sanctioned in 1947 (one of India's oldest sanctioned-but-unbuilt projects), but construction only began in 2004. The integrated project includes: a 2.45 km dam impounding 4.05 cubic km, a 174 MW hydroelectric station, irrigation of 2.91 lakh hectares, and water supply to 6 districts.

Megha Engineering & Infrastructures Limited (MEIL) is the lead civil contractor under the Andhra Pradesh state government's execution. Total project cost: ₹56,000 crore (vs original 2004 estimate of ₹16,000 crore — significant cost overruns from delays + design changes). Completion target: 2026, after multiple slippages from earlier 2018 and 2022 dates.

The project has been politically contentious — it submerges 222 villages including significant tribal-area land in adjacent Telangana, leading to long-running interstate disputes over rehabilitation responsibilities. Multiple Supreme Court interventions have shaped the rehabilitation framework.