Vijayawada: Polavaram project height must be 150 feet

Vijayawada (NTR district): TDP State general secretary and former Minister Devineni Uma Maheswara Rao demanded both the Centre and State governments not to reduce the height of the Polavaram Project, adding that the Project's height must be 150 feet.

CPI leaders staged a one-day protest against the proposals of decreasing the height of Polavaram Project, at Lenin Centre in Vijayawada on Tuesday. TDP former Minister Devineni Uma MaheswaraRao, CPI State secretary K Ramakrishna, APCC president Gidugu Rudra Raju, CPM State secretariat member Ch Babu Rao, Jana Sena Party State official spokesperson Pothina Mahesh, Polavaram Sadhana Samithi convener Akkineni Bhavani Prasad and others participated in this protest.

Speaking on the occasion, Devineni Uma informed that 71 per cent works of Polavaram Project were completed during the TDP regime, however, the ruling YSRCP didn't undertake a single per cent of work. CPI State secretary K Ramakrishna said as per the Andhra Pradesh Bifurcation Act, the Polavaram project is a national project and it is the Central government's responsibility to complete the project by allocating funds. He said the people of the State were worrying a lot about decreasing the height of the project. Ramakrishna demanded the State government to take steps for completing the project as per the primary height of 150 feet to store 194 TMC of water. Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy should fulfil his promise, which was given in the Assembly that the Polavaram Project will be completed during his regime, he stated.

APCC president Gidugu Rudra Raju said that the Central and State governments were mulling to escape from paying the compensation to the evacuees by reducing the height of the project.

CPI State secretariat member Akkineni Vanaja, leaders Ch Koteswara Rao, G Koteswara Rao, D Sankar and others participated in the dharna.