VIJAYAWADA: The State Water Resources department is in the process of drafting a response to the reply sought by the Polavaram Project Authority (PPA) regarding the alleged irregularities in the Rehabilitation and Resettlement (R and R) of the national project. The department is likely to send the report shortly.
For the record, the PPA had written a letter last month to the Secretary of Water Resources, Shashi Bhushan Kumar, following a directive from the Union Ministry of Water Resources. “We have received the PPA’s letter and the response is being readied regarding all the particulars of the R and R. It will be sent soon,” a senior official told TNIE, pointing out that all the details were available on the Polavaram project’s website.
It maybe recalled that the Ministry’s instruction to PPA were given after Rajya Sabha member V Vijayasai Reddy shot off a letter to the Centre alleging irregularities in R & R, thereby resulting in the misuse of the funds released by the Centre. The parliamentarian also sought a CBI probe into the issue.
Meanwhile, the audit on the expenditure incurred before March 31, 2014 is underway. While the records stated that about `5,400 crore was spent before it was declared a national project, the officials were able to produce expenditure reports for `5,135 crore to the Principal Accountant General (audit). “There is a mismatch of about `300 crore. Our officials are working to resolve the issue,” another official said.