Amaravati: Affirming that the Polavaram project will be completed on time, Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy has said that 100 feet statue of DR YS Rajasekhar Reddy would be installed at the site for his initiatives for the take-off of the project.
Rounding up the short discussion on Polavaram in the State Assembly, the Chief Minister exposed the shoddy handling of the project by the previous TDP government and assured that the question of reducing the height (45.72 meters) does not arise and water will be given for khariff 2022.
CM Jagan said, “The corruption and mismanagement were so rampant during the previous government that Prime Minister Narendra Modi has commented that Polavaram has become an ATM for Chandrababu Naidu. We have made efforts and tried to clear the mess Chandrababu Naidu has created on Polavaram by agreeing to 2014 prices, accepting the special packages and taking over the project from the Centre.”
“So rampant was the corruption that when we went for reverse tendering Rs 1343 crores was saved. Of this Rs 1140 crore was saved by cancelling tenders of the previous government and going for fresh bidding. Polavaram is the lifeline of the State and it was Dr YS Rajasekhara Reddy who brought the majority of the clearances while Chandrababu Naidu had been making tall claims that 70 per cent of works were completed but in reality, is it was about 20 per cent of works as he lagged behind in land acquisition and neglected R&R,” he added.
The Chief Minister further said that the previous government had agreed to the special package of Union Government on September 7, 2016, putting Polavaram at stake.
It was clearly said that the central government will fund 100 per cent irrigation component only to the extent of the cost as on April 1, 2014; leaving behind Land Acquisition, R&R, power, and water components.
It also stated that the Government of India had agreed to the State request for the execution of the project by the state government. This was even discussed in the Union Cabinet on 15 March 2017.