Union Water Resources Minister Nitin Gadkari’s assurance that there is no scope for politics in the execution of the Polavaram multi-purpose irrigation project comes as a breath of fresh air amid the firestorm unleashed by the Opposition recently over the Centre’s alleged betrayal of Andhra Pradesh and CM Chandrababu Naidu’s ‘abject surrender’ to it.
But what triggered the storm was a missive from Gadkari’s ministry to the state directing it to put on hold the tender process initiated for the execution of a portion of the project works. The Centre believes changing the contractor could delay the project and escalate costs while Naidu fears the main contractor, Transstroy, is dragging its feet citing cost overruns.
To be fair to Naidu, he has been racing against time to complete it against several odds. Though the project, incorporated in the Andhra Pradesh Reorganisation Act 2014 and declared a national project, is to be fully funded and constructed by the Centre, he has taken the initiative and obtained approval from the Centre to build it himself.
In the process, he has painted himself into a corner—staking his political capital and inexplicably agreeing to a slew of conditions. In the special package announced for the state in lieu of the Special Category Status, the Centre limited its financial liability to the rates prevailing on 1 April 2014. But the project cost has since escalated from `16,000 crore to over `58,000 crore. Besides, it added a rider that if the state fails to comply with the completion date, the grant component will be treated as loan and recovered accordingly.
There is merit in the Opposition’s charge that the conditions are in violation of the AP Reorganisation Act. The onus of executing the project is on the Centre. The project, which could make Andhra drought-free, was promised as compensation for the loss of Hyderabad. There are also concerns from Odisha that need to be addressed. Naidu has suggested that the PM hold a meeting of CMs to find a solution. The Centre must walk the talk. Politics, as Gadkari said, has no place here.