Overview

• The Irrigation Department’s Central Designs Organisation issued an Expression of Interest to empanel agencies to prepare rehabilitation and restoration designs for the three Godavari barrages.
• Proposals must be submitted by October 15 with sealed bids delivered to the CDO in Hyderabad and opened the same day in the presence of the Chief Engineer.
• Officials say the CDO lacks in‑house capacity to produce the complex repair designs, prompting the call for external expertise as recommended by the dam safety review.
• The NDSA’s final report flagged sand piping, cavities under rafts, and design and construction deficiencies, with Block 7 at Medigadda requiring decommissioning or stabilization and strengthening advised at Annaram and Sundilla.
• Planning points to geotechnical and geophysical investigations during the low‑flow window and potential summer repair works, even as farmers and critics question the timing and scope, with some arguing contractors should rebuild the damaged block without fresh tenders.