Hyderabad, May 2 -- The Andhra Pradesh government is pushing for central approval for the second phase of the Polavaram major irrigation project on Godavari River, even as work on the first phase progresses at a brisk pace, officials familiar with the matter said.

Secretary of Union Jal Sakthi ministry V L Kantha Rao on Friday held a high-level meeting with the state government officials in New Delhi to review the progress of works under the phase-I of the Polavaram project and discuss the issues related to the phase-II.

Andhra Pradesh chief secretary G Sai Prasad, who is also in-charge of the state irrigation department, irrigation department advisor M Venkateswara Rao and engineer-in-chief Narasimha Murthy, besides senior officials fr...