Kakinada: An Australia-made excavator worth about Rs 60 crore caught fire due to short circuit at Polavaram project site in West Godavari on Friday evening. According to sources, the excavator, brought from Germany, was pressed into service by Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu in September, 2016. The excavator was being used in earthmoving works in Godavari by digging 25,000 cubic meters of soil per day. It was more or less working non-stop.

The excavator was given rest for one day per month for maintenance works. Superintendent engineer Ramesh Kumar said that it may take at least one month to repair the machine as the technicians will have to be flown in from Australia. He said that it was estimated that the loss would be at least Rs 20 crore due. Sources said that earthmoving works may be stalled for some time in Polavaram project due to the incident.