The historic Dowleswaram Barrage, built in 1852 by Sir Arthur Cotton across the Godavari River in East Godavari district, will undergo a major restoration with a sanctioned outlay of Rs 150 crore.

This 175-year-old engineering marvel revolutionized agriculture by irrigating over 10 lakh acres across the Eastern, Central, and Western Godavari deltas. Now,116 of its 175 gates have become rusted and nonfunctional, causing significant water loss and complicating flood management. Superintending Engineer Gopinath revealed that several bottom plates are riddled with holes, wasting lakhs of cusecs of water annually.

The facelift includes the replacement of damaged gates and installation of 12 new head sluice gates and eight scour sluices to improve water flow and flood resilience. Initially included under the DRIP scheme with a 70:30 Centre-State funding model, the project stalled due to inability to secure Central assistance. Now, the Chandrababu Naidu-led administration has revived and prioritised the project, ensuring both funding and timely execution.