Jal Shakti Minister agrees to Polavaram site visit

New Delhi: State finance minister Buggana Rajendranath Reddy and irrigation minister P Anil Kumar Yadav here on Friday submitted a memorandum to the Jal Shakti minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat on the Revised Cost Estimates (RCE) of the Polavaram project at 2017-18 price level.

Speaking to the media later, Anil Kumar Yadav said that the Central minister had responded favourably to the AP government's request. "The Union minister accepted our invitation and agreed to visit the Polavaram project in the next 15 days," he said.

The irrigation minister said that the government was in the process of rectifying the wrongs committed during TDP government. a memorandum to the Union minister with the RCE for the construction of the Polavaram project was submitted for his approval, to which he had responded positively, he added.

"'We have been meeting Union ministers and officials from various departments since the past three days.

Today, we met the Central minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat and submitted a representation by our Chief Minister Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy to approve the revised estimates of the Polavaram project. The minister said that he had a clear understanding on these issues and promised to act upon it soon," he said.

"As part of the memorandum we have also requested that the component related to drinking water in the Polavaram project, which was earlier removed, be added under Section 14 of the Act," he said.

According to Anil Kumar Yadav, the Union minister also said that he would do the needful about the Rehabilitation and Resettlement (R&R) component package, as stated in the revised estimates. "The Central minister had heeded our request to visit Polavaram in the coming two weeks to see the progress of the Polavaram dam construction as well as the work related to R&R. He also said that they would coordinate with the Polavaram Project Authority and Central Water Commission and follow their guidelines to settle the issues," Anil Kumar said.

Finance minister Buggana Rajendranath Reddy assured that the Polavaram project, which was declared a national project under the AP Reorganisation Act of 2014, would be completed on time. He said that it was the Chief Minister and the government's endeavour to complete the project on time.

He explained that the entire exercise of the RCE was because Chandrababu Naidu had entered into a special agreement under Special Package Scheme on September 8, 2016. As part of that deal in 2016 the original facilities were altered causing various issues, which the current government had resolved step-by-step, he explained. "We are giving high priority to the Polavaram project for which the state government is earnestly working to complete by 2021," he said.