Amaravati: Polavaram will be ready by 2021, asserts Anil

Amaravati: Irrigation Minister P Anil Kumar Yadav said that they would complete the construction of the Polavaram by 2021, as announced by the Chief Minister.

The Minister inspected the Polavaram project site on Sunday. In an official press release, the Minister said the project works were moving fast and strict guidelines were issued to the officials on the works that should be completed by June. The Chief Minister himself was overseeing the ongoing works of the project.

The Irrigation Minister said that as per the instructions of Chief Minister Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy, the project will be completed in 2021 to fulfil the wishes of former Chief Minister Dr Y S Rajasekhara Reddy.

Anil Kumar Yadav lashed out at the previous government for its failure to implement the R&R package for the displaced. He said the YSRCP government had decided to construct 18,000 houses for the benefit of the displaced families.

A team from the Central government visited the project and issued a positive report on the ongoing works, he pointed out.

Anil Kumar stated that there were some pending funds that were yet to be released from NABARD. About Rs 5,000 crore should be received from NABARD. But so far only Rs 1,800 crore has been released.

If the funds from the Central government were not released on time, the State government would spend funds for the construction works and would later collect arrears from the Centre.

The Minister said about 10,000 complaints were received from Polavaram residents. An IAS officer was appointed to solve the R&R issues.