Pulichintala, January 31: The Pulichintala project works are going on at a snail’s pace as the state government has not released any funds for it since August 2010.
Ashok, project in-charge of Srinivasa Constructions, which is executing the irrigation project, said Rs 40 crore was due to them from the government.
Pulichintala project executive engineer P Bhaskar Rao said bills worth Rs 23 crore were pending with the government.
District Telugu Desam president and Mylavaram MLA Devineni Uma Maheswara Rao said Rs 125 crore was allocated for the project in the last budget.
But the government has released Rs 34 crore only so far.
‘‘The undue delay in release of funds shows lack of commitment on the part of the Congress government to completing the multi-purpose project, which will produce 120 MW of power and stabilise more than 13 lakh acres of ayacut in Krishna, Guntur, Prakasam and West Godavari districts,’’ Uma said.
Uma along with TDP MLAs Dasari Balavardhana Rao (Gannavaram), Sriram Rajagopal (Jaggaiahpet), Tangirala Prabhakara Rao (Nandigama) and Politburo member Uppuleti Kalpana, inspected the project site today.
However, Bhaskar Rao and Ashok said a part of the project would be duly completed by June to store 3.5 tmc of water. The project works would be speeded up if the government releases the Rs 40 crore dues, they said.
According to Bhaskar Rao, 52 per cent of the total project works and 65 per cent of concrete work have been completed so far. Of the total 24 gates of the project, 12 gates have been completed up to crest level.
The TDP MLAs demanded that the state government set a deadline for completion of the project. Chief minister N Kiran Kumar Reddy should make a statement on the project deadline at the Rachabanda programme scheduled here on February 3. They threatened to stage a protest in the state Assembly during the budget session, if the chief minister fails to set a deadline for completion of the project.
The works on the irrigation project which began on June 6, 2005, were to be completed in 2007. But the project is way behind schedule due to lack of commitment on the part of the Congress government to stabilising the ayacut in Krishna delta, the TDP MLAs said.
According to the engineering officials, it will take two years to complete the total project if the works go on without any hindrance from now.
—-Agencies