VIJAYAWADA: The State government is preparing its reply to be sent to the Union Ministry of Jal Shakti, which sought an ‘evaluation and proper assessment’ report on Polavaram project at the behest of the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO). The officials are expected to send the report to the ministry and to the Polavaram Project Authority (PPA) on Wednesday.
“The report is drafted but needs clearance. Once it is done, which is expected to happen on Wednesday, it will be sent,” an official in the know of things said. If the officials feel that more information needs to be added to defend its move of going for reverse tendering against the advice of the PPA and Union Ministry of Jal Shakti, the department may take a day more to send the report, the official added.
For the record, after the PPA had submitted its report on the national project to the Union Jal Shakti Ministry on August 23, the Senior Joint Commissioner-I from the Union Water Resources department, Anup Kumar Shrivastava, had shot off a letter to Special Chief Secretary (State Water Resources) Adityanath Das on August 29 seeking a detailed report citing relevant rules/provisions in respect of each observation made by the expert committee constituted by the State, which recommended reverse tendering after terminating contract awarded to Navayuga Engineering Company Ltd, citing anomalies in contract. The ministry, asking the State to treat the letter as ‘most urgent’, requested that the report be submitted by September 3.
Even though the State officials have started preparation of the report, they did not send it even last week. This prompted the Union ministry to write a reminder on Monday. “The letter was sent to the Special Chief Secretary of State Water Resources by Monday afternoon. In the letter, the ministry gave a couple of days time for submission of the said report,” a top-ranking official explained, adding, “We are expecting the report on Wednesday.”