Rajhmundary, May 06: Praja Rajyam president Chiranjeevi’s `Polavaram Sadhana Bus Yatra’ set out from the famous pilgrim centre of Antarvedi in the Konaseema area of East Godavari district today after pujas to Lord Lakshminarasimha Swamy were conducted.
Addressing people en route on the first day of the bus yatra today, the PRP president said that the Union Government was delaying according the national project status to Indira Sagar (Polavaram) irrigation project.
The PRP would continue the fight against the government until the project was given the national status, he said.
When all the clearances were given to the project why then was the Union Government not announcing national status to the prestigious project, he wondered. If the project was built lakhs of acres would get water for cultivation and farmers downstream the Godavari would no longer face shortage of water for two crops, he said.
“The delta will turn into a desert if the government fails to complete the project. All the three regions of the state will get water from the dam. We are not against irrigation projects coming up in Telangana. If need be, the PRP will also fight for the Chevella- Pranahita project,’’ Chiranjeevi said.
Alleging that MPs from the state had failed to exert sufficient pressure on the central government in this regard the PRP chief hoped to secure the national project status to the project with the support of the people. He also wanted to know the reasons for the state goverment’s failure to exert pressure on the union government. Major projects would materialise only in a united state, he said and clarified that the PRP did not take up the bus yatra to derive any political mileage.
The bus yatra touched Kesavadaspalem, Chintalamori, Kesanapalli, Gudavalli, Kunavaram, Tatipaka, Jaggannapeta, Chakalipalem, Gannavaram, Ballampudi, Ganti, Pedapudi, Itakota, Ravulapalem, Alamur, Mandapeta and Ramachandrapuram before reaching Kakinada.
Party leaders C Ramachandraiah, Kotagiri Vidyadhar Rao, Jyothula Nehru and Jasti Murthi, MLAs B Satyananda Rao, K Kanna Babu, P Gandhi Mohan and Vanga Geetha, and others accompanied the PRP president. Thousands of people welcomed and greeted Chiranjeevi at various places.
—Agencies