Alleging that thousands of crores of public money was looted in the name of irrigation projects under the Jala Yagnam irrigation initiative of the late Chief Minister Dr. Y S Rajasekhara Reddy so as to benefit his son Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy financially, the TDP has demanded CBI probe into these projects also.
Talking to the media here on Thursday, party senior leader Kadiyam Sri Hari has said that late YSR has said 26 projects would be completed in 5 years and still not a single project was completed though 8 years had elapsed and Rs. 75,000 crore was spent. He said the number of projects has increased from 28 to 86 and the project expenditure had shot up by 1.86 lakh crore. He has alleged that of the Rs. 75,000 crore spent on projects Rs. 25,000 cr. was looted. And of the loot, YSR got Rs. 15,000 cr and the contractors Rs. 5,000 cr. and the engineers swallowed another Rs. 5,000 cr. Kadiyam said his party was ready to prove this loot with evidence. He said though the high court, Lok Ayukta and CAG had pointed out serious lapses in the Jala Yaganam projects, the government had not bothered to check or stop corruption. In the recent CAG report, it was found that contractor was benefited by Rs. 450 additionally due to lapses in the Kalwakurti project. In Yellampalli project, Rs. 350 cr. was paid to the contractor additionally. In Polavaram Rs. 277 cr. was paid to contractor for non-swelling construction which was not done, though it was said there was no need at all to undertake that work.
Ravula Chandrasekhara Reddy, another leader of the party has expressed several doubts about the lift irrigation projects. He said though 161 million units of power would be needed for the 26 proposed lift irrigation schemes, the projects were being taken up without any arrangements and agreements for supply of power. He said though canals were dug, there was no water in them. Expressing fears that these would be unproductive assets, he has appealed to the CBI to probe deeply into these issues also. (NSS)