Polavaram project will be completed by 2027, says Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu

Construction of new diaphragm wall will begin in January 2025 and will be completed by March 2026, the Chief Minister says in the Legislative Assembly; the previous YSRCP dispensation’s incompetence has affected the project’s progress and caused huge loss to the State, he asserts

Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu has squarely blamed the previous YSR Congress Party (YSRCP) government in the State for the uncertainty over the Polavaram irrigation project.

Taking part in a short discussion on ‘Polavaram and other irrigation projects in the State’ in the Legislative Assembly on November 19 (Tuesday), the Chief Minister said the Polavaram project was affected due to “political vendetta.”

“The project is the lifeline and backbone of the State. It will address the drought issue. The previous government had scuttled the project. In fact, it had announced that it would stop the project out of animosity towards us. Due to their ignorance and incompetence, the project was stopped,” Mr. Naidu said.

Between 2014 and 2019, the TDP government had worked hard on the project, but the YSRCP government destroyed it, he added.

The Central agencies’ advice against acting in haste too fell on deaf ears, Mr. Naidu said. Due to poor supervision, the diaphragm wall was damaged. Beause of the previous government’s inefficiency, the State suffered huge loss. “Only 3.08% of the work was done by the previous government. The Irrigation Minister in the previous government does not know what a diaphragm wall is. He does not know the difference between TMC (thousand million cubic) feet and cusecs,” Mr. Naidu said.

Between 2014 and 2019, the TDP government had completed 72% of the project work. Had the TDP been elected again in 2019, the project would have been completed by now, Mr. Naidu observed.

The TDP government had completed the Pattiseema project in one year and provided water to Rayalaseema. In a single day, more than 32,000 cubic metres of concrete work was completed. In the past, the diaphragm wall of Polavaram was completed in 414 days, he said.

Mr. Naidu asserted that the Polavaram project would be completed by 2027. The height of the project would be 45.72 metres.

Between 2014 and 2019, the TDP government had spent ₹16,493 crore on the project against ₹4,099 crore spent by the YSRCP government, he said.

The Central government had agreed to provide ₹12,157 crore for the project in the the next two years. The construction of the new diaphragm wall would begin in January 2025 and completed by March 2026. “We will complete the Polavaram project by 2027,” Mr. Naidu reiterated.

Published - November 19, 2024 09:59 pm IST