CM Chandrababu Naidu walks on Spillway Gallery; Polavaram water by mid-2019

The TDP supremo, who initially maintained that he would not make any political remarks on the occasion, took potshots at Opposition leaders in the State.
CM with his grandson at Polavaram project site on Wednesday | Express
CM with his grandson at Polavaram project site on Wednesday | Express

VIJAYAWADA: Expressing confidence that his government would be able to supply water through gravity by mid-2019 from Polavaram project, Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu said it was the happiest moment in the 40 years of his political life, after he inaugurated the project’s 1,069-metre long Spillway Gallery on Wednesday.  

“We will ensure that the project is completed as promised and sought the Central assistance in this regard. If I fail in this task, it is not the triumph of the Opposition parties, but the defeat of five crore people of the State,” he said.

“I will fight till my last breath and there is nothing called defeat in my life,” Naidu asserted. Earlier, he walked on the Spillway Gallery along with his family members.

Addressing a gathering, he said the project would have been completed much earlier had the Centre cooperated with the State. The Chief Minister said, “I was fortunate to have had the honour of inaugurating the Spillway Gallery, said to be the longest in the country.”

He recalled that though former Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru had laid the foundation stone for the Nagarjuna Sagar Project, it was his daughter and former PM Indira Gandhi, who had inaugurated the gallery there and walked on it. “It is a rare opportunity for me to lay the foundation stone for Polavaram project, inaugurate and walk on the Spillway Gallery, one of the project’s critical structures,” he said.
Naidu commended the engineers and contractors for working overtime and also thanked the Central Water Commission (CWC) for its support in executing the project.

The TDP supremo, who initially maintained that he would not make any political remarks on the occasion, took potshots at Opposition leaders in the State.

“YSRC chief YS Jaganmohan landed in trouble after indulging in illegal business transactions. Now, he is falling on the feet of anybody, who threatens action. Similarly, BJP State president Kanna Lakshminarayana, instead of criticising me, should fight for the release of Central funds as we cannot complete the Polavaram project without adequate funds,” he said.

Naidu said he visited the project site 27 times and held 74 virtual inspections to monitor its progress. Stating that 58.15 per cent of Polavaram works have been completed so far, he said `9,464 crore has been spent on it after it was declared a national project. Of the total amount, the Centre has reimbursed `6,724 crore, he explained.

“After 26 more virtual reviews and six to seven physical inspections, we will complete the project,” he said, adding that Polavaram will set several records in various categories.
IT Minister Nara Lokesh said it would take four to five generations to complete a project of Polavaram magnitude, but a determined Naidu was able to complete a major share of works in the past three to four years. Fixing of radial gates will begin from the second week of October, he added.

BJP MLA P Vishnu Kumar Raju, lauded the efforts of the government for completing the works at a faster pace. Earlier, MPs, MLAs, MLCs and Ministers, including Devineni Umamaheswara Rao, KS Jawahar, C Adinarayana Reddy and Sidda Raghava Rao, arrived at the project site in eight buses from Vijayawada. Water Resources Secretary Shashi Bhushan Kumar and Water Resources Engineer-in-Chief M Venkateswara Rao and others attended the event.

Minister’s convoy vehicle overturns
One of the vehicles, ferrying  TDP workers, in the convoy of Social Welfare Minister Nakka Ananda Babu turned turtle after skidding off the road due to the rain at the project site after the event’s conclusion. No casualties were reported

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