VIJAYAWADA: Water Resources Minister Devineni Umamaheswara Rao has come down heavily on Congress MP KVP Ramachandra Rao and retired engineers from the Jana Chaitanya Vedika for making “baseless” allegations against Polavaram Irrigation Project. Alleging that a vicious campaign against the project was being done in the direction of YSRC chief YS Jagan Mohan Reddy, Devineni claimed that the YSRCP’s hopes of forming government in the State would be dashed on May 23.
Addressing a press conference here on Friday, the minister questioned as to why KVP was not seeking any clarification from the Centre, which has not been releasing funds for the project execution. He slammed the Congress MP for urging the Governor to order a probe into execution of the national project.
“He shoots off letters to us, but does not question the Centre, which has to reimburse Rs 4,716 crore, or K Chandrasekhar Rao’s daughter Kavita, who filed a petition before the National Green Tribunal against the project. Then, there are some retired engineers, who did not even stay for an hour at the project site, but made allegations. They should at least spend four-six hours and interact with our officials to know how the project is being executed,” he observed.
Talking about the rehabilitation and resettlement (R and R) procedure of the project, the minister explained that the Finance, Water Resources and other departments concerned were brainstorming to draft a plan to finish the project. It may be recalled that the R and R has been hit due to the State government’s fund crunch.
Devineni also appealed to the family members of Jagan to take care of the YSRC chief’s health after May 23 as he will not win the elections.