Jagan did not heed PPA advice on Polavaram, says Naidu

Polavaram: TDP chief N Chandrababu Naidu accused Chief Minister Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy of making Polavaram project, which is the lifeline of Andhra Pradesh as defunct with his ‘inefficiency’.

As part of his ‘Yudha Bheri’ programme taken up against the state’s government’s alleged negligence towards the ongoing irrigation projects in the state, Chandrababu Naidu on Monday made a power-point presentation on the prevailing condition of the irrigation projects in West Godavari district. With his stupidity and inability, Jagan has almost drowned the Polavaram project into the Godavari, the TDP supremo alleged.

Making it clear that he is determined to take the state much forward not only by completing the Polavaram project but also by interlinking the rivers, the former chief minister said that he has already proved that the irrigation projects, including Polavaram, can be completed on a war footing basis. The people are now witnessing how the TDP government struggled for constructing Polavaram and how this government is causing severe damage to this national project, he said.

Naidu said if the Polavaram needs to be completed there should be awareness and change among the public. No one can raise any kind of objections to utilise the surplus Godavari waters to meet the needs of the state, he said and made it clear that even if someone raises any kind of objection the state can easily face them.

The completion of the projects has turned out to be very difficult under this government, he said, adding that if the Godavari waters are properly utilised the state will never witness a water crisis. Naidu explained that the left main canal of Polavaram is linked to the Nagavali and the Vamsadhara. “We have shifted the water through the main right canal to Pattiseema and supplied water to the Krishna delta and the 120 tmc feet of water which was to be supplied to the Krishna delta is shifted to Rayalaseema via Srisailam,” he said.

Pointing out that the TDP government mainly focussed on all the irrigation projects, including Polavaram, Naidu said had the Chintalapudi and Polavaram been completed the state would have turned into a fertile Andhra Pradesh.

The TDP chief said Polavaram project got delayed by 10 years due to the vengeful attitude adopted by the late Dr YS Rajasekhara Reddy. “In 2004, our government called for tenders and handed over the works to the Madhucon and the Seenaiah companies. Then Dr YS Rajasekhara Reddy resorted to vengeful attitude towards these firms and thus only five per cent works were completed from 2004 till 2014 and that government had spent a mere Rs 423 crore on the project, he said.

Stating that compensation too was not paid to the farmers, he said that no efforts were made to resolve the disputes with the neighbouring states. The Polavaram Project Authority (PPA) has pointed out all these issues in its report, Naidu explained.

Also, the PPA as found fault with the reverse tendering decision of this government and raised strong objections, the former chief minister said.

On August 13, 2019 the PPA said that the present contractor is functioning well and there is no need to replace the organisation, Naidu said and also explained that the PPA also pointed out how the head-works have come to a standstill due to replacement of the contractor in 2009.

As Jagan did not heed the PPA advice and moved forward with his stupidity this situation has now arisen, Chandrababu said and stated that while the TDP government had taken decisions with a vision, this Chief Minister has moved forward with inefficiency.

This government has repeatedly been telling lies on the Polavaram project, Naidu said and also added that experts too have blamed this government for the damage caused to the project.