SayCheese

The cruise up the river started at Rajahmundry. These boats have AC cabins on the lower deck and an open air seating arrangement on the upper. The ethereal scenery of the Papi Hills and the dense jungles that cover it are quite like the scenes one sees in Kashmir.



The Godavari, which runs from the west to the south of India, has a big river basins in Andhra Pradesh. The Coringa mangrove forests in the delta are the second largest mangrove formation in the country acting as a barrier against cyclones, tropical storms and tidal waves protecting villages on the coast. Part of this has been declared a sanctuary,  the Coringa Wildlife Sanctuary, and is renown for its reptiles.  With a length of 1465 km, it is India's second longest river. It originates near Trimbak in Maharashtra state and flows east across the Deccan Plateau into the Bay of Bengal near Narasapuram in West Godavari district of Andhra Pradesh.



The Papi Kondalu (hills) got its name from the word Papidi meaning 'the partition on the crown of a woman's head. The Papi range splits the river Godavari. There is a story in history that says that a demon, Papi, tried to stop the river but Godaviri with all her might killed the demon by tearing up a path on its head to flow on.



Untouched nature at her best with picture postcard prettiness of a hilly countryside patch-worked with quaint little farms, a landscape dotted with tribal habitations and river banks densely forested with Teak, Arjun and Rose Wood. The waterfalls at Munivaatam is an added attraction.









If the Government finishes the construction of Polavaram Project, the entire Papi Hills and its jungles will be submerged in water. The Polavaram project or the Indira Sagar, is a mega project (Rs 13,500 crore) envisaging the construction of a dam across Godavari river, linking two rivers, Krishna and Godavari, to  develop a vast irrigation system that would cover 15 out of 23 districts in Andhra Pradesh. It would  generate 960 MW of electricity.

Polavaram dam will submerge a total area of 38,186 hectares

• 22,882 hectares of rain-fed agricultural land, 
• 12,801 hectares of what is called ‘poramboke’/government or wasteland, and 
• 3,223 hectares of forest land.